Etymology Inherited from Middle English hole, hol, from Old English hol (“orifice, hollow place, cavity”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol (“hole”), from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“hollow space, cavity”), noun derivative of Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”), which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to hollow. Cognate with Dutch, Faroese, and Icelandic hol (“hole”), Danish hul (“hole”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Norn hola (“hole”), Norwegian Bokmål hol (“depression, hole, cavern”), Swedish hål (“hole”), French houle (“swell of water”). Compare unrelated Finnish kolo (“hole”).
A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure.
I made a blind hole in the wall for a peg. I dug a hole and planted a tree in it.
To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:
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Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
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An opening that goes all the way through a solid body, a fabric, etc.; a perforation; a rent.
There’s a hole in my shoe. Her stocking has a hole in it.
The priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Kings 12:9:
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[…]her palfrey’s footfall shot Light horrors thro’ her pulses: the blind walls Were full of chinks and holes; and overhead Fantastic gables, crowding, stared:[…]1840, Alfred Tennyson, Godiva:
› In games.
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Golf, Heading, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A subsurface standard-size hole, also called cup, hitting the ball into which is the object of play. Each hole, of which there are usually eighteen as the standard on a full course, is located on a prepared surface, called the green, of a particular type grass.
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Golf, Heading, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The part of a game in which a player attempts to hit the ball into one of the holes.
I played 18 holes yesterday. The second hole today cost me three strokes over par.
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Ball games, Baseball, Games, Heading, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The rear portion of the defensive team between the shortstop and the third baseman.
The shortstop ranged deep into the hole to make the stop.
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Board games, Chess, Games, Heading A square on the board, with some positional significance, that a player does not, and cannot in the future, control with a friendly pawn.
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Heading A card (also called a hole card) dealt face down thus unknown to all but its holder; the status in which such a card is.
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Heading In the game of fives, part of the floor of the court between the step and the pepperbox.
But between the drinks and subtle things / The holes in my apologies, you know / I’m trying hard to take it back2011, Fun, “We Are Young”:
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Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics In semiconductors, a lack of an electron in an occupied band behaving like a positively charged particle.
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A security vulnerability in software which can be taken advantage of by an exploit.
In late December a Washington State prisoner was involved in a scuffle with a guard who was trying to take him into the hole.1988 April 2, Ed Mead, “AIDS hysteria sweeps prison guards' union”, in Gay Community News, page 9:
Disciplinary actions can range from a mere write up to serious time in the hole.2011, Ahmariah Jackson, IAtomic Seven, Locked Up but Not Locked Down:
I have often heard people say, "One can't live upon a view," and I have heard some of the most beautiful places called "awful holes," simply because of the monotonous lives led in them.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 109:
"Don't you see the hole it has put me into? […] Of course it was too late to have any alteration printed on the first night and now Miss Roscastle is the draw of the piece.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
Rail transport, Railways, TransportSlang A passing loop; a siding provided for trains traveling in opposite directions on a single-track line to pass each other.
We’re supposed to take the hole at Cronk and wait for the Limited to pass.
Etymology Inherited from Middle English hole, hol, from Old English hol (“orifice, hollow place, cavity”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol (“hole”), from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“hollow space, cavity”), noun derivative of Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”), which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to hollow. Cognate with Dutch, Faroese, and Icelandic hol (“hole”), Danish hul (“hole”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Norn hola (“hole”), Norwegian Bokmål hol (“depression, hole, cavern”), Swedish hål (“hole”), French houle (“swell of water”). Compare unrelated Finnish kolo (“hole”).
1
To make holes in (an object or surface).
Shrapnel holed the ship's hull.
2
Broadly To destroy.
She completely holed the argument.
3
To go into a hole.
Good master Picklock, with your worming brain, And wriggling engine-head of maintenance, Which I shall see you hole with very shortly! A fine round head, when those two lugs are off, To trundle through a pillory!1631, Ben Jonson, The Staple of News, act IV, scene ii:
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To drive into a hole, as an animal, or a billiard ball or golf ball.
If the player holes the red ball, he scores three, and upon holing his adversary's ball, he gains two; and thus it frequently happens, that seven are got upon a single stroke, by caramboling and holing both balls.1799, Sporting Magazine, volume 13, page 49: