α. 1600s 1900s– shithole.
β. 1900s– shitehole Brit. 
/ˈʃʌɪthəʊl/, U.S. /ˈʃaɪtˌhoʊl/.
shitholen.
/ˈʃɪthəʊl/, U.S. /ˈʃɪt(ˌ)hoʊl/ coarse slang.
1.
a. The rectum or anus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > intestines > [noun] > large intestine > rectum
longaona1400
arse-guta1413
rectum?a1425
backdoor1613
shitholea1629
asshole1865
rinktum1886
rectosigmoid1912
shitter1927
patootie1959
a1629 J. Lilliat in E. Doughtie Liber Lilliati (1985) 52 Six shitten shotes did I shoote in thy mowth that I shot from my shithole.
1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang VI. i. 181/2 Shit-hole, the rectum.
1984 J. Segal Sex Lives of College Students 373 Sid asked me if he could screw me in my shit hole.
1997 J. Rathbone Last Eng. King (1999) 326 His spear entered the man from below, just between his balls and his shit-hole.
2005 S. Faulks Human Traces (2008) 432 He who dreams of fucking the young women and the boys? Fucking them in the shithole.
b. A wretched place; spec. (a) a dirty or dilapidated dwelling; (b) a remote, downtrodden, or unpleasant city, town, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > [noun] > unpleasantness > unpleasant place
galère1756
Tartarus1821
galley1859
hellscape1894
asshole1918
arsehole1926
pisshole1928
shithole1930
shithouse1949
armpit1957
shitbox1966
bumhole1985
1930 tr. A. M. Frey Cross Bearers xxxiv. 249 But that will soon be over, he hopes; over as soon as he can get out of this ‘shit-hole’ [Ger. aus der Scheißgassen]—the soldiers' term which the officers adopt.
1935 B. Creighton tr. ‘B. Traven’ Treasure of Sierra Madre (new ed.) xiii. iv. 193 Come out there from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.
c1947 T. Shibutani Derelicts of Company K (1978) v. 200 How come..we have to live in this shit hole?
1969 A. Cornelisen Torregreca v. 176 I made up my mind early I wasn't going to..spend my life..in one of those shit-holes.
1973 W. Crawford Gunship Commander 11 I have already spent four miserable, rotten years of my life in that shit-hole and I am not going back.
1977 Zigzag June 28/3 John went to a Catholic school in Caledonian Road—‘a right shit-hole’.
1984 I. McNamara First Directive 83 I don't drink in shitholes like this.
1992 R. Harris Fatherland ii. 51 Overcrowding. Starvation. Disease. From what one can gather, the place is still a shithole, despite what they say.
1995 N. Hornby High Fidelity (1996) xi. 113 And I moved when I was eighteen, so I only spent a year seeing the place for what it was—a suburban shit-hole—and hating it.
2000 J. Goodwin Danny Boy iv. 101 Inter-breeding you see. They're all at it in these rural shitholes, nothing else to do of an evening except fuck your sister.
c. A toilet; a latrine.In quot. c1947: a ditch filled with foul-smelling water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun]
gongOE
privy?c1225
room-housec1275
chamber foreignc1300
wardrobea1325
privy chamberc1325
foreignc1390
siegec1400
stool1410
jakes1432
house of easementa1438
kocayc1440
siege-hole1440
siege-house1440
privy house1463
withdraught1493
draught1530
shield1535
bench-hole1542
common house1542
stool1542
jakes house1547
boggard1552
house of office?1560
purging place1577
little house1579
issue1588
Ajax1596
draught-house1597
private1600
necessary house1612
vault1617
longhouse1622
latrine1623
necessary1633
commonsa1641
gingerbread officea1643
boghouse1644
cloaca1645
passage-house1646
retreat1653
shithouse1659
closet of ease1662
garderobe1680
backside1704
office1727
bog?1731
house of ease1734
cuz-john1735
easing-chair1771
backhouse1800
outhouse1819
netty1825
petty1848
seat of ease1850
closet1869
bathroom1883
crapper1927
lat1927
shouse1941
biffy1942
shitholec1947
toot1965
shitter1967
woodshed1974
c1947 T. Shibutani Derelicts of Company K (1978) viii. 387 I hear Mike and Joey fell in a shit hole last night!
1968 A. K. Armah Beautyful Ones are not yet Born xiii. 196 The shithole in the box was, as usual, encrusted with old caked excrement.
1985 J. R. McDonough Platoon Leader 35 Dinks put in a potato field. Use it for a shit-hole while they work the paddies next to it. Stinks to high heaven.
1990 E. Backhouse Against Time & Place 103 How many times have you filled in the shit-hole, dug a fresh one and moved the dunny over it?
2000 E. Bunker Educ. of Felon 43 Goddamned rats had come up through the shithole.
2. A despicable person; = asshole n. 3.
ΚΠ
1974 Coq Apr. 44 Hey, shithole,..get the hell out of here.
1978 S. Forward & C. Buck Betrayal of Innocence 110 I'm gonna get you, you shithole.
1989 K. Dunn Geek Love iii. xix. 231 We protect children because they have not yet proven themselves to be hamstrung shitholes.
1991 R. R. McCammon Boy's Life iii. iv. 253 Gordo squalled, ‘You shithole, give it here!’ and he wrenched at the rest of the magazine while Gotha pulled at it, too.
2003 D. Guterson Our Lady of Forest 103 This whining shit you give me when I ask you to do one simple little think you little fuck you shithole.
2009 ‘R. Keeland’ tr. S. Larsson Girl who played with Fire xi. 187 Why him? You've got plenty of other shitholes in the book.
Compounds
General attributive.
ΚΠ
1966 J. J. Phillips Mojo Hand 41 It look to me like them grand juries going to see one hell of a shit-hole mess 'round this place.
1980 M. Burke Laughing War 106 One time we were frozen into some forlorn little shithole village.
1991 P. Fussell BAD 63 They have a name for their members obliged to cover BAD places: shithole specialists.
1997 J. Brook Sangria in S. Champion Disco Biscuits 126 I've seen Juan with the Chief of Police. They're buddies. They grew up in some shit-hole village together.
2000 A. Calcutt Brit Cult 22/1 He once told the late Gavin Hills of The Face that ‘there is a malaise in the country’ which is ‘full of stupid fucking people whose save all their poxy money to buy shithole houses.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1629