hole Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an opening into or through something
  2. noun an opening deliberately made in or through something
  3. noun one playing period (from tee to green) on a golf course
    golf hole.
    • he played 18 holes
  4. noun an unoccupied space
  5. noun a depression hollowed out of solid matter
    hollow.
  6. noun a fault
    • he shot holes in my argument
  7. noun informal terms for a difficult situation
    kettle of fish; mess; fix; muddle; jam; pickle.
    • he got into a terrible fix
    • he made a muddle of his marriage
  8. noun informal terms for the mouth
    maw; yap; gob; trap; cakehole.
  9. verb hit the ball into the hole
    hole out.
  10. verb make holes in

WordNet

Hole adjective
Definitions
  1. Whole. Obs. Chaucer.
Hole noun
Etymology
OE. hol, hole, AS. hol, hole, cavern, from hol, a., hollow; akin to D. hol, OHG. hol, G. hohl, Dan.huul hollow, hul hole, Sw. hål, Icel. hola; prob. from the root of AS. helan to conceal. See Hele, Hell, and cf. Hold of a ship.
Definitions
  1. A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; an opening in or through a solid body, a fabric, etc.; a perforation; a rent; a fissure.
    The holes where eyes should be. Shak.
    The blind walls Were full of chinks and holes. Tennyson.
    The priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid. 2 Kings xii. 9.
  2. An excavation in the ground, made by an animal to live in, or a natural cavity inhabited by an animal; hence, a low, narrow, or dark lodging or place; a mean habitation. Dryden.
    The foxes have holes, . . . but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. Luke ix. 58.
    Syn. -- Hollow; concavity; aperture; rent; fissure; crevice; orifice; interstice; perforation; excavation; pit; cave; den; cell.
Hole transitive verb
Etymology
AS. holian. See Hole, n.
Definitions
  1. To cut, dig, or bore a hole or holes in; as, to hole a post for the insertion of rails or bars. Chapman.
  2. To drive into a hole, as an animal, or a billiard ball.
Hole intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To go or get into a hole. B. Jonson.

Webster 1913