Middle English Dictionary Entry

hō̆l(e n.(2)
Quotations: Show all Hide all

Entry Info

Forms hō̆l(e n.(2) Also ol(e, holle, hoil, houl & hul. Pl. hōles & (early) hōlen.
Etymology OE hol, hola. Also cp. Dan. hul, hule.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1.
(a) A perforation, bore, hole; the eye of a needle, the hole of a privy; (b) a window, loophole; a hole for smoke to escape; loupe ~, smoke ~, q. v.; (c) an opening in a lattice or a spider web; a pore in woven material; (d) an aperture in a wound or sore.
Show 44 Quotations
2.
(a) An external bodily orifice; an eye socket, a nostril, the anus, the orifice of the female pudendum, etc.; also fig.; hinder ~, anus; ~ of the bal of the eie, pupil of the eye; ~ of the ere (heringe), the external auditory canal; ~ of the yerde, hole of the glans penis; nose ~, q.v.; (b) an internal orifice or passage; ?also, a pore of the skin; ~ of the throte, the trachea.
Show 29 Quotations
3a.
(a) A cavern, cave, cleft in the rock; a pit; also fig.; salt ~, q.v.; (b) a grave; (c) the pit of hell.
Show 16 Quotations
3b.
(a) The lair of an animal, den, burrow, nest; also fig.; (b) a hiding place; a shelter; (c) a compartment in a dovecote; a cell in a beehive; also fig.
Show 27 Quotations
3c.
Anat. ~ of the ere:(a) ?the tympanic cavity of the middle ear; (b) any one of the aural cavities in the temporal bones; holes of the eren.
Show 4 Quotations
4.
(a) A hollow between the ridges in plowed land; a hollow in the ground; ?also, a valley [cp. sense 5.]; (b) a cavity gouged in something; the mark of a nail; the hole where a feather has been; cavity in a tooth; (c) ?a recess in the wall of an altar; ?an ambry in a church; (d) a dent or hollow in the surface of the body; the depression in the neck above the sternum; ~ of (in) the nekke, ~ of the throte; ~ of the polle, the hollow at the nape of the neck; arm ~, q.v.; (e) palm. triangular space in the center of the palm.
Show 16 Quotations
5.
(a) In cpd.: ~ creper, a thief; (b) in surnames and place names; -- chiefly senses 3b. (a) & 4. (a) [see Smith PNElem. 1.257].
Show 15 Quotations

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • (1462) *Acc.R.Shirborn : Margeria Mey est communis holecropper.
    • Note: ?New cpd. or = creper.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • ?a1525 Dc.54 Artist.Recipes (Dc 54) 265/16 : Take as moche wax as a pyn hede and alay the bobylys therwuth, for an þu alay them noȝt, they wyll spyll thy gold and make full of hollys.
    • Note: Additional quote, ?sense 1.(a). New spelling (double ll without e).

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hole.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 2.(a) & 3.(c)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hole of the ear.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 2.(a)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hole of the ball of the eye.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 2.(a)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hole of the hearing.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 2.(a)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hole of the yard.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 2.(b) & 4.(d)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hole of the throat.

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