HOLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hole mean? 

• HOLE (noun)
  The noun HOLE has 8 senses:

1. an opening into or through something

2. an opening deliberately made in or through something

3. one playing period (from tee to green) on a golf course

4. an unoccupied space

5. a depression hollowed out of solid matter

6. a fault

7. informal terms for a difficult situation

8. informal terms for the mouth

  Familiarity information: HOLE used as a noun is common.

• HOLE (verb)
  The verb HOLE has 2 senses:

1. hit the ball into the hole

2. make holes in

  Familiarity information: HOLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An opening into or through something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

gap; opening (an open or empty space in or between things)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hole"):

knothole (a hole in a board where a knot came out)

bolt-hole (a hole through which an animal may bolt when pursued into its burrow or den)

rathole (a hole (as in the wall of a building) made by rats)

perforation (a hole made in something)

ozone hole (an area of the ozone layer (near the poles) that is seasonally depleted of ozone)

leak (an accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape)

cranny (a small opening or crevice (especially in a rock face or wall))

bullet hole (a hole made by a bullet passing through it)

aperture (a natural opening in something)

Derivation:

hole (make holes in)

holey (allowing passage in and out)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An opening deliberately made in or through something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

opening (a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hole"):

armhole (a hole through which you put your arm and where a sleeve can be attached)

blowhole; vent; vent-hole; venthole (a hole for the escape of gas or air)

thumbhole (the hole in a woodwind that is closed and opened with the thumb)

sound hole (a hole in a soundboard (as of a violin) designed to resonate with the tones)

puncture (a small hole made by a sharp object)

post hole; posthole (a hole dug in the ground to hold a fence post)

plughole (a hole into which a plug fits (especially a hole where water drains away))

perforation (a line of small holes for tearing at a particular place)

eyehole; peephole; spyhole (a hole (in a door or an oven etc) through which you can peep)

nail hole (a hole left after a nail is removed)

mouth hole (a hole (as in a ski mask) for the mouth)

mortice; mortise (a square hole made to receive a tenon and so to form a joint)

manhole (a hole (usually with a flush cover) through which a person can gain access to an underground structure)

lubber's hole (hole in a platform on a mast through which a sailor can climb without going out on the shrouds)

keyhole (the hole where a key is inserted)

loophole (a small hole in a fortified wall; for observation or discharging weapons)

air hole (a hole that allows the passage of air)

bunghole (a hole in a barrel or cask; used to fill or empty it)

button hole; buttonhole (a hole through which buttons are pushed)

countersink (a hole (usually in wood) with the top part enlarged so that a screw or bolt will fit into it and lie below the surface)

cup (the hole (or metal container in the hole) on a golf green)

ear hole (a hole (as in a helmet) for sound to reach the ears)

eye (a small hole or loop (as in a needle))

eyehole; eyelet (a small hole (usually round and finished around the edges) in cloth or leather for the passage of a cord or hook or bar)

finger hole (a hole for inserting a finger)

finger hole (one of a series of holes in a woodwind instrument; pitch changes when a finger covers it)

hawse; hawsehole; hawsepipe (the hole that an anchor rope passes through)

Derivation:

hole (make holes in)

Sense 3

Meaning:

One playing period (from tee to green) on a golf course

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

golf hole; hole

Context example:

he played 18 holes

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

period of play; play; playing period ((in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hole"):

dogleg (a golf hole with a sharp angle in the fairway)

Holonyms ("hole" is a part of...):

golf course; links course (course consisting of a large landscaped area for playing golf)

Derivation:

hole (hit the ball into the hole)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An unoccupied space

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

space (an empty area (usually bounded in some way between things))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hole"):

pore (any tiny hole admitting passage of a liquid (fluid or gas))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A depression hollowed out of solid matter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

hole; hollow

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

depression; natural depression (a sunken or depressed geological formation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hole"):

burrow; tunnel (a hole made by an animal, usually for shelter)

gopher hole (a hole in the ground made by gophers)

kettle; kettle hole ((geology) a hollow (typically filled by a lake) that results from the melting of a mass of ice trapped in glacial deposits)

cavity; pit (a sizeable hole (usually in the ground))

chuckhole; pothole (a pit or hole produced by wear or weathering (especially in a road surface))

rabbit burrow; rabbit hole (a hole in the ground as a nest made by wild rabbits)

wormhole (hole made by a burrowing worm)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A fault

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he shot holes in my argument

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

defect; fault; flaw (an imperfection in an object or machine)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Informal terms for a difficult situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

fix; hole; jam; kettle of fish; mess; muddle; pickle

Context example:

he made a muddle of his marriage

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hole"):

dog's breakfast; dog's dinner (a poor job; a mess)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Informal terms for the mouth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cakehole; gob; hole; maw; trap; yap

Hypernyms ("hole" is a kind of...):

mouth; oral cavity; oral fissure; rima oris (the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge)

• HOLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they hole    ... he / she / it holes   
Past simple: holed   
Past participle: holed   
-ing form: holing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hit the ball into the hole

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

hole; hole out

Hypernyms (to "hole" is one way to...):

hit (cause to move by striking)

Domain category:

golf; golf game (a game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes; the object is use as few strokes as possible in playing all the holes)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

hole (one playing period (from tee to green) on a golf course)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make holes in

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "hole" is one way to...):

core out; hollow; hollow out (remove the interior of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

hole (an opening deliberately made in or through something)

hole (an opening into or through something)

 Context examples 

The presence of a hole or other type of opening in the esophageal wall through which the contents of the esophagus can pass into the mediastinum.

(Esophageal Perforation, NCI Thesaurus)

When the two vessels were half-a-mile apart, a third shot made another hole in our mainsail.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A device designed to create a hole in an object for the passage of a cord.

(Eyelet Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Meantime he worked and worked away, till he made a hole large enough to put out his head.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

By the side of the box was its cover, pierced with holes here and there.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Turning off the light in his room so that it might not betray him, he went out the port-hole feet first.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I now heard a trampling over my head, and somebody calling through the hole with a loud voice, in the English tongue, “If there be any body below, let them speak.”

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Dorothy was thinking so earnestly as they walked along that she did not notice when the Scarecrow stumbled into a hole and rolled over to the side of the road.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

He put five sun-cured salmon into the oven to thaw out for the dogs, and from the water-hole filled his coffee-pot and cooking-pail.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It was frozen over, but a single hole was left for the convenience of a solitary swan.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)