hole

—holeless, adj. —holey, adj.

/hohl/, n., v., holed, holing.

n.

1. an opening through something; gap; aperture: a hole in the roof; a hole in my sock.

2. a hollow place in a solid body or mass; a cavity: a hole in the ground.

3. the excavated habitation of an animal; burrow.

4. a small, dingy, or shabby place: I couldn't live in a hole like that.

5. a place of solitary confinement; dungeon.

6. an embarrassing position or predicament: to find oneself in a hole.

7. a cove or small harbor.

8. a fault or flaw: They found serious holes in his reasoning.

9. a deep, still place in a stream: a swimming hole.

10. Sports.

a. a small cavity, into which a marble, ball, or the like is to be played.

b. a score made by so playing.

11. Golf.

a. the circular opening in a green into which the ball is to be played.

b. a part of a golf course from a tee to the hole corresponding to it, including fairway, rough, and hazards.

c. the number of strokes taken to hit the ball from a tee into the hole corresponding to it.

12. Informal. opening; slot: The radio program was scheduled for the P.M. hole. We need an experienced person to fill a hole in our accounting department.

13. Metalworking. (in wire drawing) one reduction of a section.

14. Electronics. a mobile vacancy in the electronic structure of a semiconductor that acts as a positive charge carrier and has equivalent mass.

15. Aeron. an air pocket that causes a plane or other aircraft to drop suddenly.

16. burn a hole in one's pocket, to urge one to spend money quickly: His inheritance was burning a hole in his pocket.

17. hole in the wall, a small or confining place, esp. one that is dingy, shabby, or out-of-the-way: Their first shop was a real hole in the wall.

18. in a or the hole,

a. in debt; in straitened circumstances: After Christmas I am always in the hole for at least a month.

b. Baseball, Softball. pitching or batting with the count of balls or balls and strikes to one's disadvantage, esp. batting with a count of two strikes and one ball or none.

c. Stud Poker. being the card or one of the cards dealt face down in the first round: a king in the hole.

19. make a hole in, to take a large part of: A large bill from the dentist made a hole in her savings.

20. pick a hole or holes in, to find a fault or flaw in: As soon as I presented my argument, he began to pick holes in it.

v.t.

21. to make a hole or holes in.

22. to put or drive into a hole.

23. Golf. to hit the ball into (a hole).

24. to bore (a tunnel, passage, etc.).

v.i.

25. to make a hole or holes.

26. hole out, Golf. to strike the ball into a hole: He holed out in five, one over par.

27. hole up,

a. to go into a hole; retire for the winter, as a hibernating animal.

b. to hide, as from pursuers, the police, etc.: The police think the bank robbers are holed up in Chicago.

[bef. 900; ME; OE hol hole, cave, orig. neut. of hol (adj.) HOLLOW; c. G hohl hollow]

Syn. 1, 2. pit, hollow, concavity. HOLE, CAVITY, EXCAVATION refer to a hollow place in anything. HOLE is the common word for this idea: a hole in turf. CAVITY is a more formal or scientific term for a hollow within the body or in a substance, whether with or without a passage outward: a cavity in a tooth; the cranial cavity. An EXCAVATION is an extended hole made by digging out or removing material: an excavation before the construction of a building. 3. den, cave; lair, retreat. 4. hovel, shack.

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▪ solid-state physics

      in solid-state physics, the name given to a missing electron in certain metals and semiconductors (semiconductor). A missing electron is the same as an added positive electric charge, and hence holes behave like positive charges, moving opposite to electrons under the effect of an electric field. Holes affect the electrical, optical, and thermal properties of the solid. Along with electrons, they play a critical role in modern digital technology when they are deliberately introduced into semiconductors.

      According to the band theory of solids, electrons within a solid have energies only at certain discrete levels that combine into groups or bands. The valence band contains electrons that are bound into the atomic structure of the material (see valence electron), whereas the conduction band contains electrons that are free to move.

      The band structure of a semiconductor (that is, the distribution of its electrons) can be changed by the process called doping, in which impurities, known as dopants (dopant), are added to the material. In silicon, the semiconductor used in computer chips, the addition of a small amount of arsenic increases the number of electrons because each arsenic atom contains one more electron than the silicon atom it replaces. Such a material is said to be -type for its excess negative charges. -type (for excess positive charges) silicon results if the dopant is boron, which contains one electron fewer than a silicon atom. Each added boron atom creates a deficiency of one electron; deficiencies are known as positive holes and, like excess electrons, can transport current.

      Electrons and holes both move when a voltage is applied, and both contribute to the electrical properties of a doped semiconductor. N- and p-type semiconductors can be combined to form field-effect transistors (integrated circuit), a basic component in integrated circuits (integrated circuit).

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