noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P AA1 T HH OW2 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion, weather or traffic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A pit formed in the bed of a turbulent stream.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
2002, May-June, Grand River Conservation Authority (Canada) Newsletter The earliest ideas on the creation of potholes are that they were associated with "moulins de glacier" (glacier mills) formed where surface streams on glaciers and ice sheets fall into holes in the ice. Water entering these surficial holes was believed to impact on the bedrock beneath creating a large pothole. The "Moulin Hypothesis", first suggested in 1874, continued to be accepted by many authors until the 1950s. However, commencing in the 1930s, other authors have suggested dissatisfaction with the moulin hypothesis, largely on the grounds that it failed to explain how ice could remain stable long enough for the "giant" potholes to form and why many potholes (like those at Rockwood) were present in large numbers.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A vertical cave system, often found in limestone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure-hunters or vandals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A shallow hole dug for the purpose of prospecting for opal or gold.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia
Topics: business, mining
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A hyperlink with text displayed on a page that is different from the title of the page to which the text links; a piped link.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
Topics: lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A hole or recess on the top of a stove into which a pot may be placed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
a pit or hole produced by wear or weathering (especially in a road surface)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: chuckhole
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hole, hollow
History
Etymology
From dialectal pot (“pit, hollow, cavity”) + hole. The "cave" senses, attested since at least 1809 (as pot-hole), may be from Middle English pot, potte (“a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging”), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to English pit, pote, or pot. Compare Scots pott, patt (“a pit dug in the ground; coalpit”).
From pot + hole. Attested since at least 1811 (also as pot-hole), possibly continuing Middle English *pothol (attested in the plural, potholys).
Across languages
Translations
67 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Assamese:
ডোং
(düṅ)
— a hole in a road
Assamese:
ডোঙা
(düṅa)
— a hole in a road
Bulgarian:
дупка
(dupka)
— a hole in a road
Catalan:
clot
— a hole in a road
Catalan:
sot
— a hole in a road
Chinese Mandarin:
坑洞
(kēngdòng)
— a hole in a road
Chinese Mandarin:
甌穴 /瓯穴
(ōuxué)
— a hole in a road
Czech:
výmol
— a hole in a road
Czech:
výtluk
— a hole in a road
Dutch:
gat in het wegdek
— a hole in a road
Esperanto:
vojkavo
— a hole in a road
Esperanto:
stratotruo
— a hole in a road
Finnish:
kuoppa
— a hole in a road
French:
nid de poule
— a hole in a road
French:
fondrière
— a hole in a road
Galician:
fochanca
— a hole in a road
Galician:
baltre
— a hole in a road
Galician:
goio
— a hole in a road
Galician:
lacada
— a hole in a road
Galician:
valagota
— a hole in a road
Georgian:
ღრანტე
(ɣranṭe)
— a hole in a road
German:
Schlagloch
— a hole in a road
Greek:
λακκούβα
(lakkoúva)
— a hole in a road
Hungarian:
kátyú
— a hole in a road
Icelandic:
brothola
— a hole in a road
Irish:
linntreog
— a hole in a road
Italian:
buca
— a hole in a road
Japanese:
甌穴
— a hole in a road
Macedonian:
дупка
(dupka)
— a hole in a road
Manx:
towl
— a hole in a road
Khiamniungan Naga:
khàkìk
— a hole in a road
Polish:
wybój
— a hole in a road
Polish:
wyrwa
— a hole in a road
Portuguese:
buraco (na estrada)
— a hole in a road
Romanian:
hârtop
— a hole in a road
Romanian:
hârtoapă
— a hole in a road
Russian:
вы́боина
(výboina)
— a hole in a road
Russian:
ры́твина
(rýtvina)
— a hole in a road
Russian:
уха́б
(uxáb)
— a hole in a road
Russian:
я́ма
(jáma)
— a hole in a road
Sicilian:
scaffa
— a hole in a road
Spanish:
bache
— a hole in a road
Spanish:
hoyanco
— a hole in a road
Spanish:
poceta
— a hole in a road
Swedish:
potthål
— a hole in a road
Tagalog:
lubak
— a hole in a road
Turkish:
yol çukuru
— a hole in a road
Ukrainian:
вибо́їна
(vybójina)
— a hole in a road
Ukrainian:
я́ма
(jáma)
— a hole in a road
Vietnamese:
ổ gà
— a hole in a road
Welsh:
twll
— a hole in a road
Afrikaans:
maalgat
— pit in the bed of a stream
Danish:
jættegryde
— pit in the bed of a stream
Finnish:
hiidenkirnu
— pit in the bed of a stream
Galician:
cachafundo
— pit in the bed of a stream
Galician:
cachón
— pit in the bed of a stream
Italian:
fosso
— pit in the bed of a stream
Italian:
avvallamento
— pit in the bed of a stream
Italian:
depressione
— pit in the bed of a stream
Italian:
affossamento
— pit in the bed of a stream
Khiamniungan Naga:
khàkìk
— pit in the bed of a stream
Polish:
wytopisko
— pit in the bed of a stream
Swedish:
jättegryta
— pit in the bed of a stream
Finnish:
kuoppa
— hole in a burial mound resulting from unauthorized excavators
Galician:
cono de violación
— hole in a burial mound resulting from unauthorized excavators
Italian:
scavo
— hole in a burial mound resulting from unauthorized excavators
Polish:
dziura wykopana przez łowcę
— hole in a burial mound resulting from unauthorized excavators
