1
a
: an opening through something : perforation
The coat has a hole in it.
a bullet hole
b
: an area where something is missing
His mother's death left a hole in his life.
: gap: such as
(2)
: an opening in a defensive formation
a running back's ability to find holes in the defensive line
especially
: the area of a baseball field between the positions of shortstop and third baseman
(3)
: a defect in a crystal (as of a semiconductor) that is due to an electron's having left its normal position in one of the crystal bonds and that is equivalent in many respects to a positively charged particle
2
: a hollowed-out place
a hole in an apple
: such as
a
: a cave, pit, or well in the ground
dug a large hole with a steam shovel
b
: burrow
a rabbit hole
c
: an unusually deep place in a body of water (such as a river)
3
a
: a wretched or dreary place
How could anyone live in such a hole?
b
: a prison cell especially for solitary confinement
threw him in the hole for two days
4
a
golf
: a shallow cylindrical hole or hollowed-out place in the putting green of a golf course into which the ball is played
b
: a part of the golf course from tee (see tee entry 2 sense 2) to putting green
just beginning play on the third hole
also
: the play on such a hole as a unit of scoring
won the hole by two strokes
5
a
: an awkward position or circumstance : fix
got the rebels out of a hole at the battle—
Kenneth Roberts
Kenneth Roberts
b
: a position of owing or losing money
$10 million in the hole
raising money to get out of the hole
holed; holing
1
: to make an opening through or a hollowed-out place in (as by cutting, digging, boring, or shooting at) : to make a hole (see hole entry 1) in
The ship was holed along the waterline by enemy fire.
2
: to drive or hit into a hole
hole a putt
The dogs holed the fox.
: to make an opening through or a hollowed-out place in something : to make a hole in something
Synonyms
Examples of hole in a Sentence
Noun
I have a hole in my sock.
He fixed the hole in the roof.
a mouse hole in the wall
The dog dug a deep hole.
Her putt rolled right into the hole.
She made a birdie on the seventh hole.
The course has 18 holes.
Verb
She holed a long putt for a birdie.
holed the target with a round of shots
Recent Examples on the WebBoone Ashworth, WIRED, 26 Apr. 2024
Later that month, a Chicago couple, Raj Sarathy and his partner, Tyler, chose the famous rat hole as their wedding location.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hole 
Noun
Photograph: Santiago Urquijo/Getty Images Air travel has entered an especially fraught place in the public consciousness lately, mostly due to a recent spate of incidents in which Boeing planes have caught fire, lost a wheel during takeoff, or sprung a hole mid-flight.
—Boone Ashworth, WIRED, 26 Apr. 2024
Later that month, a Chicago couple, Raj Sarathy and his partner, Tyler, chose the famous rat hole as their wedding location.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hole
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hole
Cite this Entry
“Hole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hole. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
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