hole

verb

holed; holing

transitive verb

1

: to make an opening through or a hollowed-out place in (as by cutting, digging, boring, or shooting at) : to make a hole (see hole entry 1) in

The ship was holed along the waterline by enemy fire.

2

: to drive or hit into a hole

hole a putt

The dogs holed the fox.

intransitive verb

: to make an opening through or a hollowed-out place in something : to make a hole in something

Synonyms of hole

• drill
• pierce
• punch

Examples of hole in a Sentence

She holed a long putt for a birdie.

holed the target with a round of shots

Recent Examples on the Web

Justin Rose was outside the cut line on Friday until holing a chip from deep rough for eagle on his last hole to make it with one shot to spare. —Doug Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 17 May 2026

Space the planting holes 18 to 24 inches apart and space rows 3 to 6 feet apart. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 May 2026

The flight attendants then attempted to solve the problem by shoving napkins inside the ceiling holes. —Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 2 May 2026

Korda ended her victory by holing a lengthy par putt and cannonballing into the pool installed off the 18th green at Memorial Park, alongside her team and family. —Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English holen, going back to Old English holian, derivative of hol hole entry 1

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing hole

• ace in the hole
• A-hole
• air hole
• a square peg in a round hole
• black hole
• bolt-hole
• donut hole
• doughnut hole
• dry hole
• finger hole
• five-hole
• funk hole
• hidey-hole
• hidy-hole
• hole-and-corner
• hole card
• hole in one
• hole-in-the-wall
• hole out
• hole up
• in the hole
• like a hole in the head
• lubber's hole
• memory hole
• nineteenth hole
• ozone hole
• pie hole
• rabbit hole
• rip a hole
• shot hole
• shut your pie hole
• sound hole
• swimming hole
• the hole
• toad-in-the-hole
• top-hole
• water hole
• watering hole
• weep hole
• white hole

Rhymes for hole

• bole
• bowl
• coal
• droll
• foal
• goal
• knoll
• kol
• mole
• noll
• nolle
• ole

Kids Definition

hole

noun

ˈhōl

1

: an opening into or through a thing

2

a

: a hollow place (as a pit or cave)

b

: a deep place in a body of water

trout holes

3

: an underground habitation : burrow

4

: flaw, fault

5

a

: the shallow cup into which the ball is played in golf

b

: a part of a golf course from the tee to the putting green

6

: a shabby or dingy place

7

: an awkward position : fix

hole verb

holey

ˈhō-lē

adjective