hollow

Contents

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

• holler (nonstandard: dialectal, especially Southern US)

PronunciationEdit

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

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

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

Etymology 1Edit

Middle English holow, earlier holgh, from Old English holh (“a hollow”), from Proto-Germanic *holhwo-. Cognate with Old High German huliwa and hulwa, Middle High German hülwe. Perhaps related to hole.

NounEdit

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

TranslationsEdit

hollow in some surface — see hole

small valley

• Bulgarian: падина (bg) f (padina)
• Finnish: notko

• Galician: caivanca f, valigoto
• Swedish: ravin (sv) c, dalsänka c, sänka (sv) c, grop (sv) c

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
• 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
• 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
• Welsh: pant m

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

VerbEdit

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 2Edit

From Middle English holw, holeh.

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.

   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 termsEdit

• hollow leg

TranslationsEdit

having an empty space inside

• 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, 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) (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 (ku) (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)
• 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)
• 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

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
• 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 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.
   • 1814. Sir Walter Scott, Waverley

     He has hollowed the hounds.

InterjectionEdit

hollow

1. Alternative form of hollo

ReferencesEdit

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