hole-in-the-wall
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
hole-in-the-wall (plural hole-in-the-walls or holes-in-the-wall)
- A restaurant, shop or other establishment catering to customers that is particularly inconspicuous and easily overlooked.
- (colloquial, chiefly British) An automated teller machine (ATM).
Usage notes[edit]
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".
Used to refer to an inconspicuous establishment, the term has a connotation that the quality of the food or rendered services deserves recognition.
The British sense of an automated teller machine may have originated as a trademark of Barclays.
Translations[edit]
a small or obscure place