hollow out
phrasal verb
hollowed out; hollowing out; hollows out
1
: to remove the inside of (something) : to make an empty space in (something)
The kids were hollowing out pumpkins.
a hollowed-out log
2
: to form (something) by digging or cutting the inside of something
Workers hollowed out a tunnel through the mountain.
Examples of hollow out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
These exploitative financial relationships have contributed to the hollowing out of rural economies, as farm income has become increasingly concentrated among the largest operations, the regional companies that own the animals, and the massive meatpackers.
—
Kenny Torrella, Vox, 7 Feb. 2025
And, as the U.S. hollowed out its industrial capacity, China expanded; its steel industry is the largest in the world.
—Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
The diner-loving gov should break bread with DJ, my breakfast sandwich guy in lower Manhattan who’s been hanging on since the pandemic hollowed out the five-day-a-week office culture.
—Harry Siegel, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2025
Further cuts in funding and personnel, as have been proposed by Trump’s transition team, would hollow out an already severely handicapped Africa team at the State Department and other agencies.
—Ken Opalo, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2024
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Kenny Torrella, Vox, 7 Feb. 2025
And, as the U.S. hollowed out its industrial capacity, China expanded; its steel industry is the largest in the world.
—Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
The diner-loving gov should break bread with DJ, my breakfast sandwich guy in lower Manhattan who’s been hanging on since the pandemic hollowed out the five-day-a-week office culture.
—Harry Siegel, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2025
Further cuts in funding and personnel, as have been proposed by Trump’s transition team, would hollow out an already severely handicapped Africa team at the State Department and other agencies.
—Ken Opalo, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hollow out
Dictionary Entries Near hollow out
Cite this Entry
“Hollow out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hollow%20out. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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