smoot-holen.
dialect.
(See quots. and smoot n.1)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > opening or break in continuity > in a wall, hedge, fence, dike, etc. > allowing passage of an animal
smoot1615
creep1819
smoot-holea1828
a1828 T. Bewick Mem. (1862) 39 The entrance to these last was always by a ‘smout hole’, or small opening, through which we crept on hands and knees.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Smoot-hole, a hole in a fence, through which a hare is accustomed to pass.
1893 J. Watson Confess. Poacher 133 A smoot-hole in the fence through which the rabbits run.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.a1828