mole-holen.
/ˈməʊlhəʊl/, U.S. /ˈmoʊlˌ(h)oʊl/ A hole or tunnel made or used by a mole; (in extended use) any very narrow tunnel.The sense of quot. 1597 is not entirely clear: it may illustrate a different word, perhaps related to mould n.1
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1597 W. Langham Garden of Health 350 Put Leekes into moldholes to make them come foorth.
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. v. 113 Or in the bancke the water hauing got Some Mole-hole, runs, where he expected not.
1850 Harper's Mag. July 151/1 The little mole holes on the hill sides that they call lead-mines.
1854 J. H. Byrne Jrnl. 12 Mar. in Rep. Explor. Route to Pacific II (U.S. War Dept.) (1855) App. A. 74 The mules are much fatigued by the innumerable mole-holes.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia i. vii. 49 We could find out whether they [sc. prairie-dog holes] ran straight down, or were horizontal, like mole-holes.
1998 M. Booth Industry of Souls x. 215 The light bulb..gave me heart for it meant the mole hole had not collapsed between the coal face and the main gallery.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1597