hole

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. opening, aperture, gap, cavity; excavation, hollow; slot, puncture; dungeon; cave; space. See concavity, abode, interval.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A perforation]

Syn. notch, puncture, slot, eyelet, keyhole, porthole, buttonhole, peephole, loophole, embrasure, crenel, air hole, stop, mousehole, window, crack, rent, split, tear, cleft, opening, fissure, gap, gash, rift, rupture, fracture, break, leak, nostril, oeil-de-boeuf (French), aperture, space, chasm, breach, slit, nick, cut, chink, scission, vent, incision, orifice, scissure, spiracle, leak, interstice, vent hole, scupper, foramen, eye, rime, acupuncture; see also sense 2 .

2. [A cavity]

Syn. crater, mouth, gorge, throat, gullet, orifice, aperture, cranny, foramen, manhole, dent, opening, depression, indentation, impression, corner, shell hole, pockmark, swimming hole, pocket, dimple, dip, void, lacuna, vacuum, drop, gulf, depth, pit, abyss, hollow, basin, chasm, vent, crevasse, trench, foxhole, mine, concavity, shaft, chamber, defile, scoop, valley, ravine, burrow, rift, fossa, cell, cistern, niche, alveolus, spider hole*; see also sense 1.

3. [A cave]

Syn. burrow, den, lair, grotto, cavern, cove, tunnel, excavation, mound, passage, refuge, retreat, furrow, dugout, honeycomb, warren, covert, shelter; see also sense 2.

4. [*Serious difficulty]

Syn. impasse, tangle, mess; see crisis , difficulty 1 , emergency .

5. [In golf, a depression made for the ball]

Syn. drop, cup, pocket, first to 18th hole, pot*, mocking cup*.

• burn a hole in one's pocket,

Syn. entice, lure, attract; see tempt .

• in the hole*,

Syn. broke, without money, in debt; see poor 1 .

• make a hole in,

Syn. use up, consume, expend; see spend 1 .

• pick holes in,

Syn. criticize, disprove, pick out errors in; see censure .

Syn.- hole is the general word for an open space in a thing and may suggest a depression in a surface or an opening from surface to surface [ a hole in the ground, a hole in a sock ] ; hollow basically suggests an empty space within a solid body, whether or not it extends to the surface, but it may also be applied to a depressed place in a surface [ a wooded hollow] ; cavity is generally equivalent to hole or hollow and also has special application in formal and scientific usage [ the thoracic cavity] ; an excavation is a hollow made in or through ground by digging [ the excavations at Pompeii ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

1. opening space, aperture, gap, orifice, vent, cavity, rift, slot, break, puncture, perforation, excavation, hollow, crater, pit, dugout, well, burrow.

2. predicament *box, *pickle, jam, dilemma, fix, spot, bind, plight, *hot water, *tight squeeze.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun 1. A space in an otherwise solid mass: cavity, hollow, pocket, vacuity, void. See CONVEX. 2. An opening, especially in a solid structure: breach, break, gap, perforation, rupture. See OPEN. 3. An open space allowing passage: aperture, mouth, opening, orifice, outlet, vent. See OPEN. 4. A place used as an animal's dwelling: burrow, den, lair. See PROTECTION. 5. An ugly, squalid dwelling: hovel, hut, shack, shanty. See GOOD, RICH. 6. A difficult, often embarrassing situation or condition: box1, corner, deep water, difficulty, dilemma, Dutch, fix, hot spot, hot water, jam, plight1, predicament, quagmire, scrape, soup, trouble. Informal: bind, pickle, spot. See EASY. II verb To make a hole or other opening in: breach, break (through), gap, perforate, pierce, puncture. See OPEN.