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 And Altman’s reaction to being fired had revealed something about his character: His threat to hollow out OpenAI unless the board rehired him, and his insistence on stacking the board with new members skewed in his favor, showed a determination to hold onto power and avoid future checks on it. —

Sigal Samuel, Vox, 18 May 2024 Facing continual Russian attacks, undermanned units could become increasingly hollowed out and lose the ability to defend themselves. —

Dara Massicot, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2024 Today’s political landscape, with its more polarized parties, hollowed out Congress, ineffective ethics codes, and threat of a truly imperial presidency, may look little like the 1970s. —

Bruce J. Schulman / Made By History, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024 At the end of the episode, the family enjoys a normal Thanksgiving meal, even if Barbara seems somewhat hollowed out by the culpability of her husband and daughter. —

Hunter Ingram, Variety, 25 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for hollow out

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hollow out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.