Hole-in-the-wall

Alternative forms

• hole in the wall

Full definition of hole-in-the-wall

Noun

1. A small or obscure place, especially such a restaurant.
2. (colloquial, chiefly British) An automated teller machine (ATM).

Usage notes

Although either plural can be used for both meanings, hole-in-the-walls tends to be most commonly used for the "obscure place" sense, and holes-in-the-wall is more frequently used to mean "automated teller machines".

The British sense of an automated teller machine may have originated as a trademark of Barclays.