hollow

English

Alternative forms

• holler (nonstandard: dialectal, especially Southern US)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒl.əʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑ.loʊ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • (Southern American English, Appalachia) IPA^(key): /hɑlɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɒləʊ

Etymology 1

From Middle English holow, holowe, holwe, holwȝ, holgh, from Old English holh (“a hollow”), from Proto-Germanic *halhwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelḱwos. Cognate with Old High German huliwa and hulwa, Middle High German hülwe. Perhaps related to hole.

Noun

hollow (plural hollows)

1. A small valley between mountains.
   • c. 1710–20, Matthew Prior, The First Hymn Of Callimachus: To Jupiter

     Forests grew upon the barren hollows.

   • 1855, Alfred Tennyson, Maud

     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. An exercise in which one lies on one's back with legs and head in the air and arms in the air extended above the head ([1])

Translations

hollow in some surface — see hole

small valley

• Bulgarian: падина (bg) f (padina)
• Finnish: notko (fi)
• Galician: caivanca f, valigoto

• German: Mulde (de) f, Senke (de) f, kleines Tal n
• Swedish: ravin (sv) c, dalsänka c, sänka (sv) c, grop (sv) c
• Welsh: pant m

sunken area

• Bulgarian: вдлъбнатина (bg) f (vdlǎbnatina)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 窪地 (zh), 洼地 (zh) (wādì)

• Czech: dutina (cs) f, prohlubeň f
• Dutch: laagte (nl) f
• Finnish: onkalo (fi), kuoppa (fi), loukko (fi)
• Galician: caivanca f, fondal m
• 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
• Maori: pārō (of the hand), whārua (of land), whāwhārua (of land), pokorua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hull (no) n, grop f

  Nynorsk: hòl n, grop f

• Polish: nizina (pl) f, niecka f
• Portuguese: depressão (pt) f, caivanca (pt)
• 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 (es) m
• Swedish: grop (sv) c, hål (sv) n
• Welsh: pant m

unfilled space in something solid; a cavity

• Bashkir: ҡыуыш (qïwïš)

• Russian: по́лость (ru) f (pólostʹ); (in a tree) дупло́ (ru) n (dupló), (technical use) каве́рна (ru) f (kavérna)

feeling of emptiness

• Afar: hollow
• Czech: prázdnota f
• Finnish: onkalo (fi)
• 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
• Ukrainian: пу́стка f (pústka), пустота́ f (pustotá)

Verb

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

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

Etymology 2

From Middle English holowe, holwe, holuȝ, holgh, from the noun (see above).

Adjective

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.

   He let out a hollow moan.

   • 1903, George Gordon Byron, On Leaving Newstead Abbey

     Through thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle:

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. concave; gaunt; sunken.
   • c. 1596-1599, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

     To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow

6. (gymnastics) pertaining to hollow body position

Derived terms

• hollow leg

Translations

having an empty space inside

• Arabic: أَجْوَف‎ (ʾajwaf)
• Bashkir: ҡыуыш (qïwïš), эсе буш (ese buš)
• Belarusian: по́лы (póly), пусты́ (pustý)
• Bulgarian: кух (bg) (kuh)
• 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 (da)
• Dutch: hol (nl)
• Esperanto: kava
• Estonian: õõnes
• Finnish: ontto (fi)
• French: vide (fr) m or f, creux (fr)
• Georgian: ცარიელი (carieli)
• German: hohl (de)
• Greek: κούφιος (el) m (koúfios), κοίλος (el) m (koílos)

  Ancient: κοῖλος (koîlos)

• Hindi: खोखला (hi) (khokhlā)
• Italian: 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)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بۆش‎ (boş)

• Latgalian: tukšs, dīks

• Latin: cavus (la), inanis, vacuus
• Latvian: tukšs (lv)
• Lithuanian: tuščias, tuščiaviduris
• Luxembourgish: huel
• Macedonian: шуплив (šupliv)
• Maori: kaiwaka
• 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), поро́жний (ru) (poróžnij)
• Scottish Gaelic: falamh
• Spanish: hueco (es), ahuecado (es), hundido (es)
• Swedish: ihålig (sv)
• Tagalog: bamban
• Telugu: బోలు (te) (bōlu), డొల్ల (te) (ḍolla)
• Ukrainian: поро́жній (poróžnij), пусти́й (pustýj), пустопорожній (uk) (pustoporožnij)
• Urdu: کھوکھلا‎ (khokhlā)
• Vietnamese: rỗng (vi)
• Welsh: cau (cy)

echoing, reverberating, as if in a hollow space

• Danish: dyb
• Finnish: ontto (fi)
• 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
• Ukrainian: лунки́й (lunkýj)

without substance

• Bulgarian: празен (bg) (prazen), безсъдържателен (bg) (bezsǎdǎržatelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空虛 (zh), 空虚 (zh) (kōngxū)

• Czech: bezobsažný (cs) m, nesmyslný (cs) m, prázdný (cs) m
• Danish: hul (da)
• Dutch: leeg (nl)
• Finnish: ontto (fi)
• French: insignifiant (fr) m, creux (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)
• Ukrainian: пустий (pustyj), пустопорожній (uk) (pustoporožnij), беззмістовний (uk) (bezzmistovnyj), празний (praznyj)

Adverb

hollow (not comparable)

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

Etymology 3

Compare holler.

Verb

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

1. To call or urge by shouting; to hollo.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter IV, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. In Six Volumes, volume III, London: Printed by A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292, book VII, page 26:

     [T]he Converſation (if it may be called ſo) was ſeldom ſuch as could entertain a Lady. It conſiſted chiefly of Hollowing, Singing, Relations of ſporting Adventures, B—d—y, and Abuſe of Women and of the Government.

   • 1814. Sir Walter Scott, Waverley

     He has hollowed the hounds.

Interjection

hollow

1. Alternative form of hollo

References

• hollow in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.