hollow out

phrasal verb

hollowed out; hollowing out; hollows out

: to remove the inside of (something) : to make an empty space in (something)

The kids were hollowing out pumpkins.

a hollowed-out log

: 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

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In contrast, more iterative peripheral development will grow, such as building APIs and microservices and hollowing out complex business rules by constructing an abstraction layer around legacy backends. —

Forrester, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024 The Iron Horse Station inn's first floor was hollowed out and layered in mud, but the building still stood. —

Chris Kenning, USA TODAY, 30 Oct. 2024 Local newsrooms have been hollowed out by layoffs, and many struggle to create real human connections with their audience. —

Guthrie Scrimgeour, WIRED, 11 Sep. 2024 In Say Nothing, warfare is tangible and specific: gunshots whiz over hedges, and IRA members break themselves out of prison or hollow out their bodies going on hunger strike in protest. —

Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hollow out