hollow

Contents

EnglishEdit

Wikipedia

Alternative formsEdit

• holler (nonstandard: dialectal, especially Southern US)

PronunciationEdit

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒl.əʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑ.loʊ/
  • (Southern American English, Appalachia) IPA^(key): /hɑlɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒləʊ

Etymology 1Edit

Middle English holw, holh, from Old English hol ‎(“hollow”), from Proto-Germanic *hulaz (compare Dutch hol, German hohl, Danish hul), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱówHilo- (compare Albanian thellë ‎(“deep”), Ancient Greek κοῖλος ‎(koîlos, “hollow”), Avestan [script needed] ‎(sūra, “hole, gap”)[script needed], Sanskrit कुल्या ‎(kulyā, “brook, ditch”)), from *ḱówH- ‎(“cavity”). More at cave.

AdjectiveEdit

hollow ‎(comparative hollower, superlative hollowest)

1. (of something solid) Having an empty space or cavity inside.

   a hollow tree; a hollow sphere

2. (of a sound) Distant, eerie; echoing, reverberating, as if in a hollow space; dull, muffled; often low-pitched.

   a hollow moan

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

3. (figuratively) Without substance; having no real or significant worth; meaningless.

   a hollow victory

4. (figuratively) Insincere, devoid of validity; specious.

   a hollow promise

5. Depressed; concave; gaunt; sunken.
   • Shakespeare

     With hollow eye and wrinkled brow.

1. (gymnastics) pertaining to hollow body position

Derived termsEdit

• hollow leg

TranslationsEdit

having an empty space inside

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空洞的 (zh) ‎(kōngdòng de), 空的 (zh) ‎(kōng de), 中空的 (zh) ‎(zhōngkōng de)

• Cornish: kow
• Czech: dutý (cs) m
• Danish: hul
• Dutch: hol (nl)
• Esperanto: kava
• Estonian: õõnes
• Finnish: ontto (fi)
• French: vide (fr) m, f, creux (fr)
• Georgian: ცარიელი ‎(carieli)
• German: hohl (de)
• Greek: κούφιος (el) m ‎(koúfios), κοίλος (el) m ‎(koílos)
• Hindi: खोखला (hi) ‎(khokhlā) (khokhlā)
• Italian: incavo (it) m, cavo (it) m
• Japanese: 空っぽ ‎(からっぽ, karappo), くぼんだ (ja) ‎(くぼんだ, kubonda), 中空の ‎(ちゅうくうの, chūkū no), 虚ろの ‎(うつろの, utsuro no), 空洞の (ja) ‎(くうどうの, kūdō no)
• Latgalian: tukšs, dīks
• Latin: cavus (la), inanis, vacuus

• Latvian: tukšs (lv)
• Lithuanian: tuščias, tuščiaviduris
• Luxembourgish: huel
• Mapudungun: trotrol
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hul (no), hol (no), innhul

  Nynorsk: hol, innhol

• Persian: کاواک (fa) ‎(kâvâk), پوک (fa) ‎(puk), توخالی (fa) ‎(tuxâli), کرو (fa) ‎(karv)
• Polish: pusty (pl)
• Portuguese: vazio (pt) m, oco (pt) m
• Russian: по́лый (ru) ‎(pólyj), пусто́й (ru) ‎(pustój)
• Scottish Gaelic: falamh
• Spanish: hueco (es), ahuecado (es), hundido (es)
• Swedish: ihålig (sv)
• Tagalog: bamban
• Telugu: బోలు (te) ‎(bōlu) (bOlu), డొల్ల (te) ‎(ḍolla) (Dolla)
• Urdu: کھوکھلا (khokhlā)
• Welsh: cau (cy)

echoing, reverberating, as if in a hollow space

• Danish: dyb
• Greek: υπόκωφος (el) m ‎(ypókofos)
• Japanese: こもった (ja) ‎(こもった, komotta)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dyp, hul (no)

  Nynorsk: djup (nn), hol

• Polish: głuchy (pl)
• Russian: глухо́й (ru) ‎(gluxój)
• Scottish Gaelic: falamh
• Spanish: resonante m, sordo (es) m

without substance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空虛 (zh), 空虚 (zh) ‎(kōngxū)

• Czech: bezobsažný (cs) m, nesmyslný (cs) m, prázdný (cs) m
• Danish: hul
• Dutch: leeg (nl)
• French: insignifiant (fr) m
• Greek: κούφιος (el) m ‎(koúfios)
• Italian: vacuo (it)
• Japanese: 空虚な (ja) ‎(くうきょな, kūkyo na), 不誠実な ‎(ふせいじつ, fuseijitsu na)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hul (no)

  Nynorsk: hol

• Polish: pusty (pl)
• Portuguese: vão (pt)
• Russian: пусто́й (ru) ‎(pustój), бессодержа́тельный (ru) ‎(bessoderžátelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: falamh
• Spanish: hueco (es) m, falso (es) m
• Swedish: tom (sv)
• Telugu: శుష్క ‎(śuṣka), డొల్ల (te) ‎(ḍolla)

AdverbEdit

hollow ‎(not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Completely, as part of the phrase beat hollow or beat all hollow.

Etymology 2Edit

Middle English holow, earlier holgh, from Old English holh ‎(“a hollow”)', from hol ‎(“hollow (adj.)”). See above.

NounEdit

hollow ‎(plural hollows)

1. A small valley between mountains; a low spot surrounded by elevations.
   • Prior

     Forests grew upon the barren hollows.

   • Tennyson

     I hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood.

   He built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Rockies.

2. A sunken area or unfilled space in something solid; a cavity, natural or artificial.

   the hollow of the hand or of a tree

3. (US) A sunken area.
4. (figuratively) A feeling of emptiness.

   a hollow in the pit of one's stomach

5. One who has lost their purpose, their motivation to live.

   Oh, you... You're no Hollow, eh?

TranslationsEdit

small valley

• Swedish: ravin (sv) c, dalsänka c, sänka (sv) c, grop (sv) c

sunken area

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 窪地 (zh), 洼地 (zh) ‎(wādì)

• Czech: dutina (cs) f, prohlubeň f
• Dutch: laagte f
• Georgian: ღრუ ‎(ɣru)
• German: Höhle (de) f
• Greek: βαθούλωμα (el) n ‎(vathoúloma), κουφάλα (el) f ‎(koufála), κοιλότητα (el) f ‎(koilótita)
• Irish: easca f
• Italian: cavità (it) f
• Japanese: 窪地 (ja) ‎(kubo-chi)
• Latvian: dobums m

• Lithuanian: įduba f, duobė f, dauba f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hull (no) n, grop f

  Nynorsk: hòl n, grop f

• Polish: nizina (pl) f, niecka f
• Portuguese: depressão (pt) f
• Romanian: scorbură (ro) f, scobitură (ro) f, adâncitură (ro) f
• Russian: впа́дина (ru) f ‎(vpádina), углубле́ние (ru) n ‎(uglublénije), вы́емка (ru) f ‎(výjemka), я́ма (ru) f ‎(jáma), вы́боина (ru) f ‎(výboina), низи́на (ru) f ‎(nizína)
• Scottish Gaelic: sloc m
• Spanish: depresión (es) m, hondonada m
• Swedish: grop (sv) c, hål (sv) n

feeling of emptiness

• Afar: hollow
• Czech: prázdnota f
• Greek: κενό (el) n ‎(kenó)
• Japanese: むなしい (ja) ‎(munasī), 虚脱感 ‎(kyodatsukan)

• Polish: pustka (pl) f
• Portuguese: vazio (pt) m
• Russian: пустота́ (ru) f ‎(pustotá)
• Spanish: hueco (es) m, vacío (es) m
• Swedish: saknad (sv) c, tomhet (sv) c

VerbEdit

hollow ‎(third-person singular simple present hollows, present participle hollowing, simple past and past participle hollowed)

1. to make a hole in something; to excavate (transitive)

Etymology 3Edit

Compare holler.

VerbEdit

hollow ‎(third-person singular simple present hollows, present participle hollowing, simple past and past participle hollowed)

1. To urge or call by shouting; to hollo.
   • Sir Walter Scott

     He has hollowed the hounds.

InterjectionEdit

hollow

1. Alternative form of hollo

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.