hollow

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒləʊ

Etymology 1

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.

Adjective

hollow (comparative hollower, superlative hollowest)

1. (of something solid) Having an empty space or cavity inside.
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

Derived terms

• hollow leg

Translations

having an empty space inside

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空洞的 (cmn) (kōngdòng de), 空的 (cmn) (kōng de), 中空的 (cmn) (zhōngkōng de)

• Czech: dutý (cs) m
• Danish: hul (da)
• Dutch: hol (nl)
• Esperanto: kava (eo)
• Finnish: ontto (fi)
• French: vide (fr) m and f, creux (fr)
• German: hohl (de)
• Greek: κούφιος (el) (koúfios) m
• Hindi: खोखला (hi) (khokhlā)
• Italian: incavo (it) m
• Japanese: 空っぽ (ja) (からっぽ, karappo), くぼんだ (ja) (くぼんだ, kubonda), 中空の (ja) (ちゅうくうの, chūkū no), 虚ろの (ja) (うつろの, utsuro no), 空洞の (ja) (くうどうの, kūdō no)

• Latin: cavus (la), inanis (la), vacuus (la)
• Latvian: tukšs (lv)
• Lithuanian: tuščias (lt), tuščiaviduris (lt)
• Luxembourgish: huel (lb)
• Mapudungun: trotrol
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hul, innhul

  Nynorsk: hol, innhol

• Portuguese: vazio (pt) m, oco (pt) m
• Russian: полый (ru) (pólyj), пустой (ru) (pustój)
• Scottish Gaelic: falamh (gd)
• Spanish: hueco, ahuecado, hundido
• Swedish: ihålig (sv)
• Telugu: బోలు (te) (bOlu), డొల్ల (te) (Dolla)
• Urdu: کھوکھلا (ur) (khokhlā)

low-pitched

• Danish: dyb (da)
• Greek: υπόκωφος (el) (ypókofos) m
• Japanese: こもった (ja) (こもった, komotta)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dyp, hul

  Nynorsk: djup, hol

• Russian: глухой (ru) (gluxój)
• Scottish Gaelic: falamh (gd)
• Spanish: resonante (es) m, sordo (es) m

without substance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空虛 (cmn), 空虚 (cmn) (kōngxū)

• Danish: hul (da)
• Dutch: leeg (nl)
• French: insignifiant (fr) m
• Greek: ψεύτικος (el) (pséftikos) m, κούφιος (el) (koúfios) m
• Japanese: 空虚な (ja) (くうきょな, kūkyo na), 不誠実な (ja) (ふせいじつ, fuseijitsu na)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hul

  Nynorsk: hol

• Russian: пустой (ru) (pustój), бессодержательный (ru) (bessoderžátelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: falamh (gd)
• Spanish: hueco (es) m, falso (es) m
• Swedish: ihålig (sv)
• Telugu: శుష్క (Sushka), డొల్ల (Dolla)

Adverb

hollow (not comparable)

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

Etymology 2

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

Noun

hollow (plural hollows)

1. A small valley between mountains; "he built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Rockies"
2. A sunken area in something solid.
3. (US) A sunken area, the equivalent to a copse in British English.
4. (figuratively) A feeling of emptiness.

Translations

sunken area

• Greek: βαθούλωμα (el) (vathoúloma) n
• Italian: cavità (it) f
• Japanese: 窪地 (kubo-chi)
• Latvian: dobums (lv) m
• Lithuanian: įduba (lt) f, duobė (lt) f, dauba (lt) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hull n, grop f

  Nynorsk: hòl n, grop f

• Scottish Gaelic: sloc (gd) m
• Spanish: depresión m, hondonada m
• Swedish: grop (sv) c

feeling of emptiness

• Afar: hollow (aa)
• Greek: κενό (el) (kenó) n

• Japanese: むなしい (munasī), 虚脱感 (kyodatsukan)
• Spanish: hueco (es) m, vacío (es) m

Verb

hollow (third-person singular simple present hollows, present participle hollowing, simple past and past participle hollowed)

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

Etymology 3

Verb

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.
   • Sir Walter Scott

     He has hollowed the hounds.

Interjection

hollow

1. Alternative form of hollo.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.