Hole (hOl), a.
Whole. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Hole, n. [OE. hol, hole, AS. hol, hole, cavern, from hol, a., hollow; akin to D. hol, OHG. hol, G. hohl, Dan. huul hollow, hul hole, Sw. hål, Icel. hola; prob. from the root of AS. helan to conceal. See Hele, Hell, and cf. Hold of a ship.]
1.
A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; an opening in or through a solid body, a fabric, etc.; a perforation; a rent; a fissure.
The holes where eyes should be.
Shak.
The blind walls
Were full of chinks and holes.
Tennyson.
The priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid.
2 Kings xii. 9.
2.
An excavation in the ground, made by an animal to live in, or a natural cavity inhabited by an animal; hence, a low, narrow, or dark lodging or place; a mean habitation. Dryden.
The foxes have holes, . . . but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Luke ix. 58.
Syn. -- Hollow; concavity; aperture; rent; fissure; crevice; orifice; interstice; perforation; excavation; pit; cave; den; cell.
Hole and corner, clandestine, underhand. [Colloq.] "The wretched trickery of hole and corner buffery." Dickens. --
Hole board (Fancy Weaving), a board having holes through which cords pass which lift certain warp threads; -- called also compass board.
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Hole (?), v. t. [AS. holian. See Hole, n.]
1.
To cut, dig, or bore a hole or holes in; as, to hole a post for the insertion of rails or bars. Chapman.
2.
To drive into a hole, as an animal, or a billiard ball.
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Hole, v. i.
To go or get into a hole. B. Jonson.
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Hole, n. (Games)
(a)
A small cavity used in some games, usually one into which a marble or ball is to be played or driven; hence, a score made by playing a marble or ball into such a hole, as in golf.
(b) (Fives)
At Eton College, England, that part of the floor of the court between the step and the pepperbox.
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