Synonyms of holes

holes 1 of 2

noun

plural of hole

1

as in apertures

a place in a surface allowing passage into or through a thing

line up the pegs on section A with the holes in section B and press the two together

Synonyms & Similar Words

• apertures
• openings
• crevices
• spaces
• slits
• orifices
• perforations
• cracks
• fissures
• slots
• loopholes
• tears
• punches
• gashes
• pores
• clefts
• vents
• punctures
• rifts
• notches
• outlets
• crannies
• mouths
• ruptures
• inlets
• slashes
• pinholes
• cuts
• splits
• chinks
• rents
• entrances
• breaches
• potholes
• intakes
• exits
• breaks
• airholes
• buttonholes
• keyholes
• knotholes
• peepholes
• wormholes
• pinpricks
• armholes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• patches
• seals
• plugs
• fillers
• fillings
• barriers
• obstacles
• obstructions
• fills
• stoppers
• blockages

2

as in pits

a sunken area forming a separate space

dig a hole big enough to plant the tree

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pits
• dents
• cavities
• ditches
• furrows
• trenches
• valleys
• hollows
• caverns
• indentations
• depressions
• caves
• pockets
• recesses
• alcoves
• basins
• bowls
• impressions
• craters
• concavities
• grooves
• burrows
• openings
• dimples
• dints
• excavations
• gutters
• sockets
• indentures
• troughs
• imprints
• clefts
• voids
• gouges
• wells
• nooks
• niches
• potholes
• boreholes
• sinkholes
• water holes
• notches
• abysses
• vacuums
• alveoli
• chasms
• postholes
• chuckholes
• vacuities
• wallows
• gulfs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• projections
• protrusions
• protuberances
• bulges
• hills
• mounds
• tumors
• convexities
• rises
• cambers
• bumps
• juts
• humps
• swellings
• lumps
• pimples
• bunches
• swells

3

as in predicaments

a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape

Bill dug himself into a hole by promising to be in two places at the same time

Synonyms & Similar Words

• predicaments
• dilemmas
• pickles
• corners
• swamps
• binds
• jams
• rabbit holes
• boxes
• spots
• difficulties
• fixes
• impasses
• quagmires
• mires
• kettles of fish
• rattraps
• sticky wickets
• crises
• nodes
• jackpots
• plights
• hot waters
• troubles
• soups
• straits
• catch-22's
• scrapes
• pinches
• quandaries
• logjams
• emergencies
• deadlocks
• exigencies
• clutches
• crossroads
• standstills
• junctures
• stalemates
• halts

4

as in dumps

a dirty or messy place

when people see my room, they often ask, "How can you live in this hole?"

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dumps
• sties
• messes
• pigsties
• pigpens
• hellholes
• shambles
• chaoses
• disorganizations
• disorders
• disarrays
• hells
• snake pits
• musses
• disarrangements
• havoc
• litters
• jumbles
• confusions
• clutters
• muddles
• mare's nests
• mishmashes
• welters

5

as in gaps

an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge)

found a hole in the chain-link fence big enough to squeeze through

Synonyms & Similar Words

• gaps
• crevices
• fissures
• openings
• voids
• rifts
• cracks
• slits
• intervals
• discontinuities
• interstices
• rents
• breaches
• breaks
• slots
• cavities
• separations
• clefts
• pores
• apertures
• fractures
• crannies
• hiatuses
• orifices
• notches
• interspaces
• splits
• gulfs
• chasms
• chinks
• ruptures
• gapes
• abysses
• severances

6

as in nests

the shelter or resting place of a wild animal

watched the snake slither into its hole

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nests
• burrows
• lairs
• houses
• dens
• lodges
• territories

holes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of hole

as in drills

to make a hole or series of holes in

holed the target with a round of shots

Synonyms & Similar Words

• drills
• pierces
• punches
• punctures
• pokes
• bores
• perforates
• riddles
• taps
• cuts
• penetrates
• pricks
• slits
• grooves
• breaks
• hollows
• splits
• broaches
• gouges
• notches
• excavates
• slashes
• burrows (into)
• ruptures
• prickles
• rends
• gashes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fills
• plugs
• seals
• patches

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of holes

Noun

At the resort, there’s a host of activities and amenities, including four golf courses with 10-18 holes each, bass fishing, axe throwing, pickleball, and more. — Megan Dubois, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2026

Instead of etching holes directly into the semiconductor, researchers patterned a silicon dioxide layer and then covered it with epitaxial semiconductor. — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2026

Then there’s the roster, with a future first-round pick at quarterback, a defense seemingly without holes and a freshman class rated as Freeman’s best but might not see much playing time. — Pete Sampson, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

The report from the Government Accountability Office found delays and holes in how the Secret Service updates its policies regarding threats, and arrives after a few turbulent years for the agency charged with the president’s protection. — Jesse Bedayn, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Females typically lay 4 to 40 eggs, putting their nests under rocks or in logs or tree holes, usually between June and July. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Sep. 2026

Chief Travis Ruby of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that his office has received additional reports of construction crews in nearby subdivisions discovering bullet holes in their trailers. — Idaho Statesman, 2 Sep. 2026

Anyone with even the mildest case of trypophobia—the sense of revulsion from tiny clusters and holes—should avert their eyes. — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2026

And in Berlin, various lunch options seem to include a plastic-looking quiche with holes or a penne pasta made from rubber. — David MacK, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026

Verb

Upgrade a Laundry Room Vent holes in a laundry room might call to mind a traditional airing cupboard, but perhaps counterintuitively, that term actually refers to a heated cupboard for keeping towels dry rather than one in which air freely circulates. — Monika Biegler Eyers, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 June 2026

Caulk holes around plumbing and sewer lines where roaches are likely to enter. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 4 June 2026

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

Mirroring the 3-star wig cap structure, this wig featured three combs (left-side, right-side, nape), a drawstring, wig band insertion holes, and a 13×4 lace. — Noel Cymone Walker, StyleCaster, 1 Apr. 2026

The penetration holes indicate that the internal facility is likely bombed out, destroying anything that was inside. — CBS News, 12 Mar. 2026

How to Limit Attraction Sealing unwanted tiny cracks, gaps in doors or windows, or utility lines, and holes around the home is one of the best ways to prevent ants from gaining access in the first place. — Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 11 Mar. 2026

But some backpacks are better for travel than others, perhaps designed with isolated shoe compartments, holes to feed your phone charging cable through, jewelry pouches, and special materials that simply wipe clean after picking up germs from public floors. — Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2026

The San Francisco 49ers head into free agency with roughly $38 million in salary-cap space — 11th most in the NFL — and holes all over their roster. — Matt Barrows, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026