hollow out

phrasal verb

hollowed out; hollowing out; hollows out

1

: to remove the inside of (something) : to make an empty space in (something)

The kids were hollowing out pumpkins.

a hollowed-out log

2

: to form (something) by digging or cutting the inside of something

Workers hollowed out a tunnel through the mountain.

Examples of hollow out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Masked enforcement officers, politicized prosecutions, and attacks on independent institutions are warning signs that liberty can be hollowed out in plain sight. —Ken Silverstein, Twin Cities, 15 Feb. 2026

That’s a long way from the 1990s, when programs were hollowed out by the elimination of federal and state funding. —Christopher Martinez, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2026

Anger over the bloodshed now adds to the bitterness over the economy, which has been hollowed out by decades of sanctions, corruption and mismanagement. —ABC News, 14 Feb. 2026

This place that has obsessed my dreams and left me hollowed out at the foot of its immense beauty is only a place of the past. —Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026

Rhymes for hollow out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout