loophole

English

A loophole

Etymology

From Middle English loupe (“opening in a wall”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːphəʊl/
• Hyphenation: loop‧hole

Noun

loophole (plural loopholes)

1. (historical) A slit in a castle wall; today, any similar window for shooting a ranged weapon or letting in light.
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:

     ... and having a fair loophole, as it were, from a broken hole in the tree, he took a sure aim, without being seen, waiting till they were within about thirty yards of the tree, so that he could not miss.

   • 1809, Maria Edgeworth, The Absentee:

     There was a loophole in this wall, to let the light in, just at the height of a person's head, who was sitting near the chimney.

   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, page 25:

     The sun had shifted round, and the myriad windows of the Ministry of Truth, with the light no longer shining on them, looked grim as the loopholes of a fortress.

2. A method of escape, especially an ambiguity or exception in a rule or law that can be exploited in order to avoid its effect.
   • 1839, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist:

     […] I left him no loophole of escape, and laid bare the whole villainy which by these lights became plain as day.

   • 2002, Two Weeks Notice (movie):

     You have a contract that says you will work until Island Towers is finalized, which I interpret as completion of construction, or I can stop you working elsewhere. And there's no loopholes, because you drafted it and you're the best.

Translations

slit in a castle wall

• Catalan: espitllera f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 槍眼／枪眼 (zh) (qiāngyǎn), 枪眼 (zh) (qiāngyǎn)

• Dutch: schietgat (nl) n
• Finnish: ampuma-aukko (fi)
• French: meurtrière (fr) f
• Galician: seteira f, troneira f
• Georgian: ამბრაზურა (ambrazura)
• German: Schießscharte (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: (crenel): lőrés, (peephole): kémlelőnyílás (hu)
• Italian: feritoia (it) f
• Japanese: 銃眼 (じゅうがん, jūgan)
• Maori: whakarua kōtare
• Norwegian: skyteskår n
• Portuguese: seteira (pt) f
• Russian: амбразу́ра (ru) f (ambrazúra), бойни́ца (ru) f (bojníca)
• Swedish: skottglugg c
• Turkish: mazgal (tr)

method of escape

• * Catalan: escapador
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 漏洞 (zh) (lòudòng)

• Czech: mezera (cs) f
• Dutch: achterdeur (nl), maas (nl) m or f
• Finnish: porsaanreikä (fi)
• French: échappatoire (fr) f, brèche (fr) f
• Georgian: თავის დაძვრენა (tavis daʒvrena)
• German: Ausflucht (de) f, Hintertürchen n, Schlupfloch (de) n
• Hebrew: פרצה (pirtsa)
• Hungarian: kibúvó (hu), kiskapu (hu), joghézag (hu), jogi kiskapu, jogi kibúvó
• Irish: lúb ar lár m
• Italian: scappatoia (it) f, cavillo (it) m, pretesto (it) m, sottigliezza (it) f, sofisma (it) m, paralogismo m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 抜け道 (ぬけみち, nukemichi)
• Norwegian: smutthull n
• Polish: luka (pl) f, kruczek (pl) m (colloquial), furtka (pl) f (colloquial)
• Portuguese: brecha (pt)
• Russian: лазе́йка (ru) f (lazéjka), увёртка (ru) f (uvjórtka)
• Spanish: escapatoria f
• Swedish: kryphål (sv) n
• Thai: ช่องโหว่ (chɔ̂ng-wòo)
• Turkish: kaçamak (tr)
• Welsh: ffordd ymwared f

Verb

1. (military, transitive) To prepare a building for defense by preparing slits or holes through which to fire on attackers
   • 1896, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Exploits Of Brigadier Gerard‎^[1]:

     The lower windows were barricaded, and the whole building loopholed for musketry fire.

   • 1907, A. E. W. Mason, The Broken Road‎^[2]:

     The doors were barricaded, the shutters closed upon the windows and loopholed, and provisions were brought in from the outhouses.

   • 1915, W. H. L. Watson, Adventures of a Despatch Rider‎^[3]:

     The Germans were loopholing it for defence.

2. (transitive) To exploit (a law, etc.) by means of loopholes.
   • 1988, Macabee Dean, The Ashmadai Solution: A Surrealistic Extrapolation of a Gentle Genocide:

     Abroad they had developed loopholing the law into an art; in Israel they jettisoned loopholing for ignoring the law wherever possible. Obeying laws was for naive fools.

   • 2005, Deborah Rhode, ‎David Luban, Legal Ethics Stories

     De-moralizing the subject can be, quite simply, demoralizing, as stirring statements of ideals turn into persnickety rules with exceptions crying out to be loopholed.