Hollow

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈhÉ’l.əʊ/
• US IPA: /ˈhÉ‘.loÊŠ/
• Southern US IPA: /hÉ‘lÉš/
• Rhymes: -É’ləʊ

Alternative forms

• holler nonstandard: dialectal, especially Southern US

Middle English holw, holh, from Old English hol ("hollow"), from Proto-Germanic *hulaz (compare Dutch hol, German hohl, Danish hul), from Proto-Indo-European *k̑ówHilo- (compare Albanian thellë ("deep"), Ancient Greek κοῖλος (koĩlos, "hollow")', Avestan (sūra, ""), Sanskrit (kulyā, "brook, ditch")), from *k̑ówH- ("cavity"). More at cave.

Full definition of hollow

Adjective

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
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.
• ShakespeareWith hollow eye and wrinkled brow.

Derived terms

• hollow leg

Adverb

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

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

Noun

1. A small valley between mountains; a low spot surrounded by elevations.
• PriorForests grew upon the barren hollows.
• TennysonI hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood.
2. He built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Rockies.
3. A sunken area or unfilled space in something solid; a cavity, natural or artificial.the hollow of the hand or of a tree
4. (US) A sunken area.
5. (figuratively) A feeling of emptiness.a hollow in the pit of one's stomach

Verb

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

Compare holler.

Verb

1. To urge or call by shouting; to hollo.
• Sir Walter ScottHe has hollowed the hounds.

Interjection

1. Alternative form of hollo