HOLE


Meaning of HOLE in English

INDEX:

1. a hole that goes through something

2. a hole in the ground or in the surface of something

3. a place on a surface that is lower than the rest

4. a long narrow hole across the surface of something

5. a hole in something that has been damaged, allowing water, air etc to escape

6. words for describing something that has lots of holes in it

7. to make a hole in the ground or surface of something

8. to make a hole through something

RELATED WORDS

see also

↑ CUT

↑ SPACE

↑ DIG

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1. a hole that goes through something

▷ hole /həʊl/ [countable noun]

▪ The sheet was ancient and full of holes.

▪ She stuck her finger through the hole.

hole in

▪ Troy looked through a hole in the fence at the garden next door.

▪ A shaft of light came in through a hole in the corrugated iron roof.

something has a hole in it

▪ I can’t wear my green shirt -- it has a hole in it.

gaping hole

a big hole

▪ They stared at the gaping hole in the wall.

▷ gap /gæp/ [countable noun]

an empty space in the middle of something such as a wall or fence, especially because part of it is missing or broken :

gap in

▪ The gate was locked but we managed to get through a gap in the fence.

gap under

▪ The light was coming through a tiny gap under the door.

gap between

▪ Sharon has a gap between her two front teeth.

▷ opening /ˈəʊp ə nɪŋ/ [countable noun]

a hole that something can pass through or that you can see through, especially one which is at the entrance or top of something :

▪ Bees come and go through a small opening at the bottom of the hive.

▪ We zipped up the opening of the tent to stop the mosquitoes getting in.

▷ aperture /ˈæpəʳtʃəʳ/ [countable noun]

a hole, especially one that allows light to pass through - use this especially in scientific and technical contexts :

▪ The telescope has an aperture of 2.4 metres.

2. a hole in the ground or in the surface of something

▷ hole /həʊl/ [countable noun]

▪ The old mineshaft had left a deep hole, dangerous to both people and livestock.

hole in

▪ The aim is to get the ball in a hole in the ground.

make a hole (in something)

▪ We made a small hole in the earth, just deep enough to cover the roots of the plant.

▪ Make a hole in the bottom of each plant pot to let the water drain out.

dig a hole

▪ A fox had dug a hole under our garden fence.

▪ Construction workers have to dig a thousand foot hole before work can start on the tunnel.

▷ crater /ˈkreɪtəʳ/ [countable noun]

a big hole in the surface of something, especially the ground, that is caused by an explosion or a large falling object :

▪ The meteor left a crater over five miles wide.

crater in

▪ When the bomb exploded it left a huge crater in the ground.

▷ pothole /ˈpɒthəʊlǁˈpɑːt-/ [countable noun]

a hole in the surface of a road that makes driving difficult or dangerous :

▪ He rode his bike over an enormous pothole.

▪ It is going to cost the city at least $500,000 to patch potholes created by winter rains.

▷ pit /pɪt/ [countable noun]

a large wide hole in the ground, especially one that is used for a particular purpose such as burying things :

▪ They found a large pit where all the dead bodies had been thrown.

▪ We dug a pit a yard deep in the soil.

▷ abyss /əˈbɪs/ [countable noun]

an extremely deep empty space, seen from a very high point such as the edge of a mountain - used especially in literature :

▪ Matthew found himself standing at the edge of a deep abyss.

▷ chasm /ˈkæz ə m/ [countable noun]

a very deep space between two high areas of rock, especially one that is dangerous :

▪ An unsteady-looking rope bridge was the only way to get across the chasm.

▪ The landscape was a series of mountains, chasms, canyons and valleys.

3. a place on a surface that is lower than the rest

▷ dip /dɪp/ [countable noun]

a place where the surface of the ground goes down suddenly :

dip in

▪ The boy fell off his bicycle when he went over a dip in the road too fast.

▷ indentation /ˌɪndenˈteɪʃ ə n/ [countable noun]

a place or area in a hard surface that is slightly lower than the rest of the surface, especially caused by something pressing hard on it :

indentation in

▪ The X-rays showed a slight indentation in the man’s skull.

▪ She gently made an indentation in the centre of each cookie.

▷ depression /dɪˈpreʃ ə n/ [countable noun]

an area, especially of the ground, that is slightly lower than the area around it, caused by something heavy pressing on it :

depression in

▪ You could see a depression in the ground where the helicopter had landed.

▪ The depressions in the sand are made by turtles, that come up here to lay their eggs.

▷ dent /dent/ [countable noun]

a place in the surface of something, especially metal, that is slightly lower because something has hit it accidentally :

▪ The picture frame came with scratches, dents and marks that make it look old.

dent in

▪ Emma backed into a tree, leaving a dent in the car’s rear bumper.

4. a long narrow hole across the surface of something

▷ crack /kræk/ [countable noun]

a long, narrow line across the surface of a hard substance such as glass or stone where it has been damaged :

crack in

▪ This cup has a crack in it.

▪ The crack in the bedroom wall seems to be widening.

▷ split /splɪt/ [countable noun] British

a long straight hole caused when a material such as plastic or cloth tears :

▪ We suddenly noticed there was a split in the side of the tent.

▷ slit /slɪt/ [countable noun]

a long, narrow hole, especially one that you can see through or put things through :

▪ Tania’s skirt has a long slit up the back.

▪ I covered my eyes with my hands, watching through the slits between my fingers.

▷ slot /slɒtǁslɑːt/ [countable noun]

a straight narrow hole, for example on a container, made so that a particular type or size of object can fit through it :

▪ I dropped a quarter in the slot and dialed the number.

▪ The message was placed in every employee’s mail slot.

5. a hole in something that has been damaged, allowing water, air etc to escape

▷ hole /həʊl/ [countable noun]

hole in

▪ Water trickled in through the hole in the roof.

▪ There are holes in the ozone layer above Antarctica.

▷ leak /liːk/ [countable noun]

a hole where something has been damaged or broken that allows a gas or liquid to pass through when it should not :

▪ The water pressure’s right down - there must be a leak in the pipe.

spring a leak

suddenly get a leak

▪ The boat had sprung a leak and it was sinking fast.

▷ puncture /ˈpʌŋktʃəʳ/ [countable noun] British

a small hole in a tyre through which air escapes :

▪ I could hear the hissing sound of air escaping from the puncture.

slow puncture

a puncture from which air escapes slowly

▪ The tyre’s gone flat again -- I think we’ve got a slow puncture.

6. words for describing something that has lots of holes in it

▷ be full of holes /biː ˌfʊl əv ˈhəʊlz/ [verb phrase]

▪ Parker’s socks were so full of holes that his toes peeked through.

▪ The roof was full of holes, all of which sprouted grass and moss.

▷ riddled with holes /ˌrɪdld wɪð ˈhəʊlz/ [adjective phrase]

full of a great many small holes, especially in a surface :

▪ The old table was riddled with holes.

▪ The ship returned from the war-zone riddled with bullet holes.

▷ perforated /ˈpɜːʳfəreɪtɪd, ˈpɜːʳfəreɪtəd/ [adjective]

having a lot of small holes arranged in a regular pattern that has been made by a machine for a particular purpose :

▪ They put the insect into a tin with a perforated lid.

▪ Tear along the perforated line and return the bottom part of the form.

▷ porous /ˈpɔːrəs/ [adjective]

a substance such as rock or soil or a surface that is porous allows liquid or gas to pass through it :

▪ If a garage has a porous floor, it can become extremely damp.

▪ Plants in containers made of porous material, must be watered more often than those in plastic pots.

▷ leaky /ˈliːki/ [adjective usually before noun]

a leaky roof, pipe etc is damaged so that it has a hole or holes in it that water comes through :

▪ The house had a leaky roof.

▪ There was a pool of water in the corner where water was dripping from a leaky pipe.

7. to make a hole in the ground or surface of something

▷ hollow out /ˌhɒləʊ ˈaʊtǁˌhɑː-/ [transitive phrasal verb]

to make a space by removing the inside part of something :

hollow out something/hollow something out

▪ Carefully hollow out the pineapple and then fill it with the ice-cream.

▷ dig out /ˌdɪg ˈaʊt/ [transitive phrasal verb] British

to make a hole in the ground using a tool that is made for digging :

▪ To plant the tree you need to dig out a hole about 20 cm wide and 30 cm deep.

▪ The workmen were already digging out the foundations for the building.

▷ gouge /gaʊdʒ/ []

to make a deep cut in a surface, using something sharp, especially in order to remove something :

▪ The blade gouged a deep wound in her leg.

gouge out something/gouge something out

remove something by violently cutting a hole

▪ In the play he tries to gouge out his own eyes.

▷ prick /prɪk/ [transitive verb]

to make a very small hole in something, especially accidentally, using something pointed such as a pin :

▪ A small bead of blood formed where she had pricked her finger.

▪ Prick the potatoes before baking them.

▷ drill /drɪl/ [intransitive verb]

to make a narrow hole in something using a tool that turns round and round very quickly :

▪ I heard the dentist start drilling, but I couldn’t feel anything.

drill for oil/water/gas etc

▪ Oil companies still drill for oil off Santa Barbara.

drill into

▪ It sounds like someone’s drilling into the wall.

drilling [adjective]

▪ The oil engineers have already moved their drilling equipment into the area.

▷ bore /bɔːʳ/ [intransitive/transitive verb]

to make a hole in a hard surface such as rock or the ground using a lot of pressure, especially in order to find or remove minerals, coal etc :

▪ The mining company bored a 5000 foot hole.

▪ The machine they used to bore the tunnel is the size of a two storey house.

bore into/through

▪ They had to bore through solid rock.

▷ dent /dent/ [transitive verb]

to accidentally hit the surface of something, especially something metal, so that part of the surface is bent or slightly lower than the rest :

▪ He accidentally dented the garage door, trying to reverse in.

dented [adjective]

▪ In the market I bought a beautiful but badly dented silver bowl.

8. to make a hole through something

▷ make a hole in /ˌmeɪk ə ˈhəʊl ɪn/ [verb phrase]

▪ Make a hole in the bottom of the plant pot to allow the water to drain out.

▪ Make a hole in the surface of the pie before you put it in the oven.

▷ pierce /pɪəʳs/ [transitive verb]

to make a small hole through something using something long and sharp :

▪ She pierced the lid of the can and poured the milk into a saucepan.

▪ The arrow pierced his heart.

have your ears/nose/navel etc pierced

have holes made in them so that you can wear jewellery

▪ Shelley had her ears pierced when she was a teenager.

▷ puncture /ˈpʌŋktʃəʳ/ [transitive verb]

to damage something by making a hole through which air escapes :

▪ The doctor was worried that the broken rib might puncture the woman’s lung.

punctured [adjective]

▪ There was an old punctured football lying between the goal-posts.

▷ punch /pʌntʃ/ [transitive verb]

to make a hole through paper or material with a quick strong movement using a special tool :

▪ The conductor walked through the train, punching everyone’s ticket.

punch a hole in something

▪ I punched holes in the papers and filed them away in a binder.

▪ The shoemaker was threading stitches through tiny holes he had punched in the leather.

▷ drill a hole /ˌdrɪl ə ˈhəʊl/ [verb phrase]

to make a small hole in something using a tool that turns around and around very quickly :

drill a hole in

▪ I drilled two holes in the shelf and attached it to the wall.

▪ We drilled several small holes in the lid of the jar.

Longman Activator English vocab.      Английский словарь Longman активатор .