n. 1 cavity, pit, hollow, excavation, burrow, crater, cavern, cave, recess, niche, nook, pocket, depression, indentation, dent, impression The snake disappeared into a hole in the rock 2 opening, aperture, orifice, perforation, puncture, slit, slot, breach, rip, tear, rent, break, crack, fissure The water poured through a hole in the pipe 3 hole in the wall, shack, hut, shanty, slum, hovel; Slang dump, dive, joint How can anyone live in such a hole? She finally got a job dancing in some hole downtown 4 cell, prison, dungeon, donjon, keep, jail, oubliette, brig, cage When he refused to talk, they put him in the hole for a week 5 difficulty, trouble, dilemma, predicament, situation, fix, corner, Colloq (tight) spot, hot water, scrape, box, bind, pickle, catch-22, mess, muddle She really got herself into a hole with the tax man 6 flaw, shortcoming, inconsistency, fault, error, mistake, fallacy, discrepancy, loophole He never offers anything original but is always ready to pick holes in any suggestion you make
v. 7 puncture, pierce, perforate A floating log holed the hull and the boat went down with all aboard