hollow

== English == === Alternative forms === hallow holler (nonstandard: dialectal, especially Southern US) === Pronunciation === (UK) (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɒləʊ/ (Northumbria) IPA(key): /ˈhɒlə/ (Scotland) IPA(key): /ˈhɔlo/ (Wales, without the toe–tow merger) IPA(key): /ˈhɒlou/ (US) (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɑloʊ/ (Southern US, Appalachia) IPA(key): /ˈhɑlɚ/ Rhymes: -ɒləʊ === Etymology 1 === From Middle English holow, holowe, holwe, holwȝ, holgh, from Old English holh (“a hollow”), from Proto-West Germanic *holh, from Proto-Germanic *hulhwą, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱólḱwos. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) Cognate with Old High German huliwa and hulwa, Middle High German hülwe. Related to hole. ==== Noun ==== hollow (plural hollows) (geography) A small valley between mountains. c. 1710–20, Matthew Prior, The First Hymn Of Callimachus: To Jupiter Forests grew upon the barren hollows. A sunken area on a surface. Synonym: depression An unfilled space in something solid; a cavity, natural or artificial. Synonym: niche (figuratively) A feeling of emptiness. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== hollow (third-person singular simple present hollows, present participle hollowing, simple past and past participle hollowed) (transitive) to make a hole in something; to excavate ===== Derived terms ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English holowe, holwe, holuȝ, holgh, from the noun (see above). ==== Adjective ==== hollow (comparative hollower, superlative hollowest) (of something solid) Having an empty space or cavity inside. (of a sound) Distant, eerie; echoing, reverberating, as if in a hollow space; dull, muffled; often low-pitched. (figuratively) Without substance; having no real or significant worth; meaningless. (figuratively) Insincere, devoid of validity; specious. Concave; gaunt; sunken. (gymnastics) Pertaining to hollow body position (wine) Synonym of empty (“lacking between the onset of tasting and the finish”). 2002, Robert M. Parker (Jr.), Pierre-Antoine Rovani, Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide (page 175) While most 1974s remain hard, tannic, hollow wines lacking ripeness, flesh, and character, a number of the Graves estates did produce surprisingly spicy, interesting wines. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Adverb ==== hollow (not comparable) (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) To call or urge by shouting; to hollo. ==== Interjection ==== hollow Alternative form of hollo. === References === “hollow”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.