hollow
UK /ˈhɒləʊ/ · US /ˈhɑloʊ/ noun, verb, adjective, adverb
Also a form of hollo
Forms hollows hollowing hollowed hollower hollowest hallow holler
- noun (geography) A small valley between mountains. “He built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Rockies.”
- noun A sunken area on a surface. “He held the chick in the hollow of his hand.”
- noun An unfilled space in something solid; a cavity, natural or artificial. “a hollow in a tree trunk”
- noun (figuratively) A feeling of emptiness. “a hollow in the pit of one’s stomach”
- verb (transitive) to make a hole in something; to excavate
- adjective (of something solid) Having an empty space or cavity inside. “a hollow tree; a hollow sphere”
- adjective (of a sound) Distant, eerie; echoing, reverberating, as if in a hollow space; dull, muffled; often low-pitched. “He let out a hollow moan.”
- adjective (figuratively) Without substance; having no real or significant worth; meaningless. “a hollow victory”
- adjective (figuratively) Insincere, devoid of validity; specious. “a hollow promise”
- adjective Concave; gaunt; sunken.
- adjective (gymnastics) Pertaining to hollow body position
- adjective (wine) Synonym of empty (“lacking between the onset of tasting and the finish”).
- adverb (colloquial) Completely, as part of the phrase beat hollow or beat all hollow.
- verb To call or urge by shouting; to hollo.
Synonyms
depression niche empty holler hole excavate dig hollow out core out vacuous
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English holow, holowe, holwe, holwȝ, holgh, from Old English holh (“a hollow”), from Proto-West Germanic *holh, from Proto-Germanic *hulwiją, from Proto-Germanic *hulaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”). Cognate with Old High German huliwa and hulwa, Middle High German hülwe. Related to hole.
From Middle English holowe, holwe, holuȝ, holgh, from the noun (see above).
Compare holler.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having an empty space or cavity, natural or artificial, within a solid substance; not solid; excavated in the interior; as, a hollow tree; a hollow sphere.
- adjective Depressed; concave; gaunt; sunken.
- noun A cavity, natural or artificial; an unfilled space within anything; a hole, a cavern; an excavation; as the hollow of the hand or of a tree.
- noun A low spot surrounded by elevations; a depressed part of a surface; a concavity; a channel.
Etymology [OE. holow, holgh, holf, AS. holh a hollow, hole. Cf. Hole.]
Etymology [See Hollo.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hollow”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details