Definition of: hole

(hōl) noun
1. A cavity extending into any solid body; a pit; hollow; cave.
2. An opening running or made through a body; aperture or orifice; perforation.
3. An animal's burrow or den.
4. Hence, a vile place; also, a place of hiding.
5. In golf, a cavity in a putting green into which the ball must be played; the distance within bounds between the teeing ground and the flag marking the hole toward which the play is moving; also, one of the points in the game of golf scored by the player who holes out, hole by hole, in the fewest strokes.
6. In various other games, a cavity into which a ball is played, or a point thus scored.
7. Colloq. A dilemma.
8. A fault; defect: to expose the holes in an argument.
—in the hole Colloq. In debt.
—v. holed, hol·ing v.t.
1. To make a hole or holes in; perforate.
2. To drive or put into a hole, as in billiards or golf.
3. To dig (a shaft, tunnel, etc.).
—v.i.
4. To make a hole or holes.
—to hole out In golf, to hit the ball into a hole.
—to hole up
1. To hibernate.
2. To take refuge in hiding. ♦ Homophone: whole. [OE hol. Appar. related to HOLLOW.] Synonyms (noun): aperture, bore, breach, cave, cavern, cavity, chasm, concavity, den, dent, dungeon, excavation, gap, hollow, indentation, kennel, lair, notch, opening, orifice, perforation, rent, A hole is an opening in a solid body; it may extend entirely through it, forming a passageway or vent, or only partly through it, forming a cavity, and may be of any shape, provided the axes are not greatly unequal. An opening very long in proportion to its width is more commonly called a crack, fissure, slit, etc., or on the surface of the earth such an opening is designated as a chasm, gorge, or ravine; a rent in a garment is made by tearing, a slit by cutting. An orifice is the mouth of a hole or tube. Aperture is a very general word; the crack of a partly opened door is an aperture, but not a hole. The noun hollow denotes a shallow concavity on the outer surface of a solid, usually round or oval. A dent is a depression on the surface of a solid, usually sharp or angular, as if beaten in. A breach is roughly broken, generally from the top or edge down through a wall or other object; a gap may be between portions that never were joined. See BREACH, BREAK.