Definition of hollow in English:

hollow

adjective ˈhɒləʊˈhɑloʊ

1Having a hole or empty space inside.
a hollow metal tube
Example sentencesExamples
- Female Bornean tree hole frogs lay their eggs in the rotting holes of hollow tree stumps so that offspring can grow in a pool of water.
- The inside was black and hollow, making it look like an empty tube.
- Blood vessels are essentially hollow tubes that carry blood to the organs and tissues throughout your body.
- Here, the railing separates from the wall creating a hollow space with ample daylight filtering in through a skylight directly above.
- I hadn't had breakfast, and my stomach felt hollow.
- Nick handed both men long rounded metal blades, hollow inside, attached to intricately carved handles.
- Yamasaki used another method, which essentially made the building a hollow steel tube.
- The framework is basically a hollow cylinder of collagenous connective tissue, the skin.
- Several large edible crabs have burrowed under the mast and others live inside the hollow structure.
- A broken bone with a hollow space inside indicated that the creature was a carnivore, but yielded few other clues.
- A record £16 million worth of hash was found inside elaborately designed hollow doorframes.
- The cochlea is a coiled, hollow tube inside the inner ear that enables us to hear.
- Chelsea's stomach felt hollow, as if she hadn't just eaten a half hour ago.
- Nests are located inside high, hollow branches, well outside the range of land-bound predators.
- So why was she feeling so hollow inside right now?
- Newspapers, overdue bills, grocery lists, and scraps paper filled the hollow space.
- The surveys concluded that the tree's trunk was essentially hollow and there were large areas of deadwood within its crown.
- Typically the bread puffs up in baking leaving it hollow inside like an empty pocket, making it particularly suitable for stuffing to form a sandwich.
- He could barely see them, as they were tucked away inside of a giant hollow tree.
- Only the grimy streets and the hollow shell of his mother's home remain.
Synonyms
empty, not solid, void, unfilled, vacant, hollowed out
1. 1.1 Having a concave or sunken appearance.
  her cheeks were hollow and she had dark circles under her eyes
  Example sentencesExamples
  They had hollow eyes and sunken cheeks, and they wailed horribly in the darkness.
  She is skeletally thin, with hollow, cadaverous eyes and cheeks.
  She was much thinner, her cheeks beginning to look hollow.
  When you're about 60, the penalty for remaining rockstar-thin is a cadaverous face and hollow cheeks.
  His face is hollow, his eyes sunken, he can barely lift his head from the bed.
  His angular face, with its long, sloping, jaw line, narrow chin and hollow cheeks, suggests the fragility of china.
  My cheeks were hollow, my eyes had sunk into my face and my skin was terrible.
  His cheeks were slightly more hollow compared to the last time she had saw him, and his hair was longer.
  His sunken chest, stooped shoulders, and hollow eyes lend him the appearance of a man twice his age.
  If the cows are under fed or fed an imbalance ration then they will look hollow, with a triangular appearance at this point.
  Facial wasting, a condition identified by sunken cheeks, hollow eyes and temples is caused by a loss of fat tissue under the skin.
  He was very handsome, except for the pale skin that was turning brown and the sunken cheeks and other visible hollow or gaunt areas.
  In a single day his stubbly cheeks had begun to look hollow, and the muscles of his shoulders and legs stood out in dehydrated splendor.
  Then images of children with bloated bellies, hollow cheeks, and heavy-lidded eyes will begin to go around the world.
  Her cheeks were sunken and hollow, her body almost frail-looking, her hair limp and sticking to her face.
  Covered in dirt, blood, scruffy from several days worth of beard, eyes sunken and hollow; he looked like a different man.
  She looks as though she neither ate nor slept during the entire shoot, with her dark-circled eyes, gaunt frame, and hollow cheeks.
  The driver was 18 to 19 years old, 5ft 6ins tall, hairy with a slim build, dark eyes, a gaunt face and hollow cheeks.
  They are generally in blue, green, white or occasionally amethyst glass, and are often cut with shallow, concave hollow diamonds.
  He's skinny and angular, with a hollow face, jaundiced skin, sunken black eyes and a flaxen mop.
  Synonyms
  sunken, deep-set, concave, depressed, dented, indented, caved in
  rare incurvate
2. 1.2 (of a sound) echoing, as though made in or on an empty container.
  a hollow groan
  Example sentencesExamples
  I dropped the pole and it clattered to the pier with a hollow thunk.
  You should hear a hollow sound when the melon is thumped.
  The large wooden doors closed behind him automatically with a hollow boom, not unlike the sound of a tomb being shut.
  A few more hollow noises that sounded like metal on metal made him certain.
  She turned as she heard hollow footsteps echo through the temple, and saw James approaching her door.
  Bake until biscuits are golden on top and bottom and sound hollow when tapped, about 10 minutes.
  A sound that is close to this is the hollow sound of a tuning fork.
  Hand claps, body slaps, foot stomps, and the hollow sounds of the boxes being hit built into complex and satisfying rhythmic structures.
  The final curtain closed on the valedictory sound effect off-stage - the hollow thud of an axe chopping down the cherry trees in the lost orchard.
  It hit a tree with a hollow clunk and bounced back to land at his feet.
  But all that came forth was the hollow click of an empty gun.
  Far above us, the grey clouds got sick of threatening and decided to act, and a hollow boom of thunder sounded.
  The sound is hollow and muffled throughout the film, and the bass has been cranked up to make up for the overall lack of punch.
  The cold, hollow sounds of their steps echoing behind them made the little hairs on the back of his neck rise.
  Apparently, there was a struggle going on; some muffled yelps were heard, and a few hollow thuds resounded in the now ominous silence.
  She remembered the dark, cold cavern and the hollow echoes of her footsteps as she walked into its darkness.
  It makes a dry rustling sound, and a hollow echo as the cans and harder litter roll away across the dirty tiles.
  I heard a small hollow thud from behind me and a little laugh.
  Without warning, a massive, hollow boom resounded from the ridges up near the front lines.
  The sound is hollow and tinny, and the dialogue is often quite difficult to understand.
  The terrible music alternates between sounding hollow, tinny, and shrill.
  Synonyms
  dull, low, flat, toneless, expressionless
  muffled, muted
  deep, rumbling, echoing, sepulchral
2Without real significance or value.
the result was a hollow victory
Example sentencesExamples
- A deeper read, however, suggests something more complicated, a pattern of embarrassing defeats and hollow victories.
- The victory in certain lights does seem indeed to be a hollow miracle.
- Even when I don't think about it, I feel so hollow and worthless.
- But even if you happen to be the big winner, your victory may prove hollow.
- There is a call for peaceful direct action that could leave the hardliners with a certain but hollow victory when the election results come in.
- The game had to be played to prevent further riots, but the Juventus victory was hollow.
- At these, it is remarkably effective, but the whole business feels rather hollow.
- She went to far and my threat to kill her wasn't hollow, I just needed a way and Erik was the solution to this problem.
- Such excuses sound pretty hollow right now, even to me.
- Geoffrey, bless his heart, is over the top as Harry; his part in the film is unclear and a little hollow.
- Were we to have lost, we would have to start out again next January and what I would have to say to the lads would be a bit hollow - given that I am saying it for the last three years in a row.
- Hey, a hollow victory is better than no victory at all, right?
- No wonder efforts during the past two years to change how public companies operate seem so hollow.
- Albion scored a second to virtual silence, for it seemed a hollow victory.
- Parents fighting the closure of their children's junior school won a hollow victory at London's Appeal Court last night.
- Everything becomes absurd and dull at the same time, and the film appears both amusing and hollow.
- Fielding women candidates can be a hollow victory if they are not resourced to campaign effectively and confidently.
- For me it's just a hollow form of words, with no real content, much like ‘Have a nice day’.
- Does not the claim of the government which claims to promote travel and tourism appear hollow to you?
- She got a standing ovation at the end, but it all must have felt pretty hollow.
- If Colin wins his case, I feel it will be a hollow victory for him, whether or not he realizes this now.
Synonyms
meaningless, empty, valueless, worthless, useless, pyrrhic, futile, of no use, of no value, of no avail, fruitless, profitless, pointless, unavailing
archaic bootless
1. 2.1 Insincere.
  a hollow promise
  Example sentencesExamples
  We cement our relationships with our barren love and hollow dialogues.
  So any promises of anonymity ring a little bit hollow to me.
  In the face of his failure to do anything about the carnage of past months, his promise to preserve national unity has a somewhat hollow sound.
  There has never been a time when the cry for unlimited congressional power has rung so hollow.
  Looking towards next season all the claims that the new stadium is not affecting cash flow seem very hollow.
  He is from all appearances, an utterly hollow man whose every action belies the religion he wears on his sleeve.
  The England captain did his best to look on the bright side, which was understandable but felt rather hollow.
  The Forest Service's argument, however, sounded hollow to many wilderness advocates.
  And we should try to ignore the hollow laughter at that description from those who use it every day.
  Those of us with our eye on the ball know that the promise of a technology-supported, Utopian future is a hollow one.
  The promise of new jobs rings somewhat hollow to a community with an unemployment rate well below the national average.
  It was a very hollow gesture.
  "You're lying, " she replies, breaking into a hollow laugh.
  The first item on that shopping list will trigger hollow laughter among the rest of the world's steel makers.
  Is Williams's redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise?
  A click sounded, and a hollow laughter echoed through the room she was in.
  Are those words ringing a little hollow for you?
  A fervent protester since her early college days, this is a woman who believes in action and follow-through rather than hollow promises made on election campaigns.
  There are some interesting figures quoted in the article - figures that don't shock or surprise me anymore, but just provoke hollow laughter and indignation.
  Alex couldn't stop the hollow laugh that forced its way out of her.
  We will not hand over our consciences in return for a hollow promise of safety…
  Synonyms
  insincere, hypocritical, feigned, pretended, artificial, false, dissembling, dissimulating, deceitful, sham, cynical, counterfeit, spurious, untrue, unsound, flimsy, two-faced, double-dealing
  informal phoney, pretend

noun ˈhɒləʊˈhɑloʊ

1A hole or depression in something.
a hollow at the base of a large tree
Example sentencesExamples
- For instance there were certain stones to be found in fields or graveyards with a hole or hollow which at times was full of water.
- She fingered the single pearl that nestle in the hollow of her throat.
- Gideon could see the blue hollows under her eyes and thin creases of worry around the red bow of her mouth.
- They dug hollows in the ground, covered them over just as wrens do and lived in that hollow.
- I half - lifted, half-dragged it to the side of the road, to a grassy hollow at the base of a huge live oak.
- One hand rests against the hollow at the base of his throat - is this an invitation to trust him?
- They also will use an old woodpecker or other hole or even hollows in the earth beneath exposed tree roots.
- I pulled the last button through what I hoped was its corresponding hole just below the hollow of my neck, and for the first time looked down at my breakfast.
- Her cheekbones protrude from the top of her face, the hollows below seem to sink all the way to her teeth before climbing the gully of her jawbones.
- Fillers add volume under the surface of the skin to plump up creases, divots and hollows from the inside out.
- And once there, I leaned my back against a hollow in a boulder, not the smooth planks of a bench thoughtfully placed in the shade of twin live oaks.
- He pressed a warm kiss into the hollow at the base of her throat.
- The hollow in the stone was about 20 centimetres in diameter and about 30 centimetres deep.
- European Starlings are cavity nesters, and nests are generally located in natural hollows, old woodpecker holes, birdhouses, or building eaves and crevices.
- They would carry a block of ochre to the nearest waterhole or spring, mix ochre and water into a paste and shape it again into a block, with a slight hollow at the bottom.
- They are cavity-nesters, finding a natural hollow in a tree, an old woodpecker hole, a hole in a building, or a man-made nest box.
- From his groin to his knees, his skin was indented with hollows like large smallpox scars.
- When the tide is out at Strandhill one can see clearly the indents and hollows in the sand, reminding us that extreme care needs to be taken when swimming there.
- I have walked the beach with the dogs when the wind howled across the sand, obliterating our footprints and forming ribs and patterns in the hollows and over the dunes.
- How convenient it was that all the prey species were excavating holes and hollows and leafy chambers, and stuffing them with helpless nestlings just when he needed them.
Synonyms
hole, pit, cavity, crater, trough, cave, cavern
depression, indentation, concavity, dent, dint, dip, dimple, dish, basin, niche, nook, cranny, recess
1. 1.1 An enclosed space within something.
  he held them in the hollow of his hand
  Example sentencesExamples
  The venerable ascetic Mahavira for a year and a month wore clothes; after that time he walked about naked, and accepted alms in the hollow of his hand.
  He dug snow away from its end, and from within a hollow in the log retrieved two wooden barbed spears.
  Apparently most of the parrots here are happy couples and have set up homes in the hollows of the dead trees in their enclosure.
  We are guided on this dive by Morne, a veteran of the lake who seems to have an uncanny knowledge of where all the best caverns and hollows are located.
  The dock drops sheer to the sandy bottom at 21m; some sections are undercut, forming deep hollows sheltering sweetlips and other fish.
  On special occasions, these bricks could be positioned in specially created hollows in the walls for creating an extremely aesthetic effect.
  Peering into the hollows of trees, you may come face to face with this wraithlike creature.
  Electrical and communication components can be encased in nonconductive materials and fitted together within concrete hollows behind prescribed openings in the walls for outlets.
  She had hid for a time within the hollow of the oak tree as pursuers raced through the forest looking for her.
  She finally spotted among the huge trees a gigantic oak with a large hollow at the base of its trunk that was just large enough for a little girl to go hide in and sleep.
  Put a spoonful in the hollow of each potato boat.
  At times, the puppies hide in the hollow of a tree, under which they have created a burrow, he adds, explaining some aspects of their behaviour.
  There are cave-like hollows in the walls, deep fissures, and piles of sharply splintered rock strewn about as if blasting has just taken place.
  Pick it up and you discover underneath, nestled in a cutout hollow of thick cardboard, a smaller book!
  Many swifts nest in caves, on cliffs or in hollows of dead trees.
  I run a few drops into the hollow of my palm and wipe my face.
  I pulled the small piece of parchment from within the hollow of the band and handed it to Janet for her to read out loud.
  The actuator body pivots about a pivot axis and is attached to the cartridge bearing assembly disposed within an inner hollow of the actuator body.
  The boy stood like a statue, looking at the ink in the hollow of his hand.
  In this way the stone becomes honeycombed and eventually larger, cavernous hollows can form.
  Synonyms
  recess, corner, alcove, cranny, crevice, niche, bay, inglenook, cavity, cubbyhole, pigeonhole, opening, gap, aperture
2. 1.2 A small valley.
  the village nestles in a hollow on the edge of the New Forest
  Example sentencesExamples
  Ahead were more hills, more little valleys, more slopes and hollows and knolls.
  To the north, the mountains wind and smoothly melt into the Pre-Balkan region and the Danube plain; while to the south steep mountain slopes tower above a series of hollows and fields.
  In my home state, librarians used to ride horses into the remote hollows and valleys in the rural parts of pre-war Kentucky.
  In the hollow of this tiny valley, lay a white public house.
  It was a quaint little place, nestled in a hollow in the hills, and smoke rose cozily out of the chimneys of the houses.
  Once a bustling coastal township it is now a sleepy hollow with a beautiful beach, a school, and a church.
  She watched this from her third-story bedroom in the Darville estate, and her gaze wandered over to the farm that nestled into the hollow.
  Cool, humid air after the warmth of the city, and patches of fog in the hollows; smells of car exhaust on the way out, and fishy smells once we got there.
  Nestling in a wooded hollow at the edge of the Queen's Balmoral estate on Scotland's Royal Deeside, the whitewashed mansion was bequeathed to Charles by the Queen Mother.
  And then there were those Yorkshire folk legends, lurking beneath a thin veneer of Christianity in the hollows and hills of Yorkshire and Scotland.
  Directly to my left, a rectangular plantation almost ready for harvest stretches to the next hollow like a roll of teased Astroturf.
  An award-winning cabin in Monteagle is nestled in a Tennessee mountain hollow and projects from the hillside to overlook a mountain stream.
  Modest-looking little plants that nestle in the moist soils of swamps or mountain hollows, mosses fascinate biologists.
  The granite peaks and sylvan hollows in the Blue Ridge Mountains are the results of geological changes and metamorphosis over perhaps a billion year period of time.
  Often swathed in cloud, otherwise fading into a purple haze flecked with white where winter snows remain in gullies and hollows, the highest point is Pic d' Anie.
  The famous Surprise View is a great hollow with valleys leading north and south and moorland roads climbing out.
  Nestled in a hollow at Hunters Point, right up against the bay, we found our goal.
  Set in three-quarters of an acre, derelict Lambs Barton Stables nestle amid landscaped gardens in a hollow of land with sea views.
  This park, tucked away in the hills and hollows of central Kentucky, protects the longest cave system in the world, a five-level labyrinth with more than 365 miles of tunnels.
  A thaw finally set in but the snow remained in many hollows and mountainous areas right into the summer of that year.
  Synonyms
  valley, vale, dale
  British dene, combe, slade
  Northern English clough
  Scottish glen, strath
  literary dell, dingle

verb ˈhɒləʊˈhɑloʊ

[with object]

1Form by making a hole.
a tunnel was hollowed out in a mountain range
Example sentencesExamples
- Slowly, gradually, a tunnel, large enough for people to walk through, was hollowed out of the gigantic mound of earth.
- He was being held in some sort of dungeon, which had been hollowed out of the ground.
- Gazing in the direction of his arm, he saw a small cave, hollowed into the mountain.
- Each circular city had been hollowed out from the ground, and covered by a great, pink-tinted dome.
- The teponaxtli was a long horizontal drum hollowed from a log and beautifully carved.
- Bells can be hollowed from wood or made from glass or ceramics, but most are cast or forged from metal.
- It's about three feet long and was hollowed out naturally by termites, which is the way they are made.
- The earliest hives were hollowed out of tree trunks, and this practice still survives in some societies.
- Until the early years of this century the traditional Russian coffin was hollowed from a single piece of wood.
- The room was circular and looked like it had been hollowed out from some giant tree.
- Unlike modern harps, the soundbox would have be hollowed out from a single piece of wood and finished with a thin panel to ‘seal’ the sound box.
- Two floors were hollowed out of the hillside beneath the Research Station, so that the facility could withstand a direct hit from a German bomb.
- The eye, as it drifts across the cliff, is arrested by a frontage of columns, which invites us into a sanctuary hollowed from the stone.
- In the Middle Ages vineyards flourished on this bleak Castilian plateau and cellars were hollowed out of the limestone under the town.
- They were led into a large cave chamber that had been partially hollowed out and worked smooth.
Synonyms
gouge out, scoop out, dig out, cut out, excavate, channel
1. 1.1 Make a hollow in.
  Flora's laugh hollowed her cheeks
  Example sentencesExamples
  People make pottery without a wheel by hollowing out a ball of clay and molding it into the desired shape.
  For instance, termites had begun hollowing out live trees instead of just dead ones.
  Its oversized cap can be sliced off, hollowed, and used for serving soup.
  Today in the UK, demand grows each year as more and more people realise that pumpkins aren't simply for hollowing out to make Hallowe'en decorations.
  Above the waterfall, the snow - although solid and deep - had been hollowed out by running meltwater.
  The rock is soft enough to be hollowed out, but it remains solid and waterproof.
  I opened the books up and found that they had both been hollowed out.
  Once under the wilderness area, Revett aims to spend 30 years hollowing out an untouched patch of mountain, and extracting its riches.
  The concrete block has been hollowed out and is packed with enough plastic explosives to kill us
  We made the centrepiece by hollowing out a large pumpkin and stuffing it with dried leaves, twigs and branches.
  At first he thought the task impossible, but then he saw a stone that had been hollowed out by dripping water.
  Because the barrel's end is hollowed out, saving weight, the end is blunt rather than rounded.
  The king of the bruschetta category was a little square of toast hollowed in the middle like a toad-in-the-hole and filled with egg, bits of truffle, and more melted Fontina cheese.
  Some of the trees were completely destroyed while others were hollowed out.
  They hollow out the side of a tree and dig down to form a nest.
  Thomas said the tree had a split trunk, part of which had been damaged in the first storm, and the second half hollowed by the second lightning strike.
  Pour in remainder of cake batter and smooth the top, hollowing it slightly.
  The company also is working on a tool that's driven by a servo motor that will allow the tips to be hollowed out so coolant can flow right to the tip.
  However, to hollow out the glacial boulders, made of Vermont granite, he used a high-intensity blowtorch.
  Yellow and green squash, called koosa, are hollowed out, stuffed with rice and ground lamb meat, and cooked in a tomato sauce.
  The first canoes are thought to have been used by Carib Indians and native North Americans and were made by hollowing out large logs.
  Jiman, meanwhile, was hollowing out a log for a new drum commissioned from Joshua.

Phrases

beat someone hollow

Defeat someone thoroughly.
Example sentencesExamples
- I had the pleasure of beating him hollow at Pro Evolution Soccer 4.
- Kerala's Shiva Priya's dream run came to an end in the 63 kg division where Asian champion Aruna Mishra beat her hollow in the first round.
- Irish landlords were bad enough in the past, but this new importation from England beats them hollow.
- Team-Pakistan beat India hollow at the Kotla grounds.
- Given the standards of Indian movies, the splendid three-hour session will ensure that you beat the romance on the screen hollow!
Synonyms
trounce, defeat utterly, beat, annihilate, drub, give a drubbing to, crush, rout, worst, overwhelm, outclass

have hollow legs (or a hollow leg)

informal Have the ability or capacity to consume an unusually large amount of food or drink.
I'm usually hungry an hour after I leave—I just have hollow legs and should order more food
he's got hollow legs, so plying him with drink doesn't work

Derivatives

hollowly

adverb ˈhɒləʊliˈhɑloʊli

He called out, listening to his voice echo hollowly.
Example sentencesExamples
- The sound echoed hollowly off the cavernous walls.
- ‘I don't know how to react to this,’ she whispered hollowly.
- However, styling does remain a vital part of fashion's vocabulary, and if it's not hollowly peddling the same old clothes it can be rather thrilling.
- We should stop boasting hollowly about how strong we are, and instead truly dedicate ourselves to attaining that inner strength which alone will guarantee serenity and peace.

hollowness

noun ˈhɒləʊnəsˈhɑloʊnəs

I really miss my children, and that hollowness in my stomach that represents all that sadness never leaves me.
Example sentencesExamples
- Their faces have taken on a sort of hollowness as they have aged.
- His emotional range extends from the bland to the sanctimonious and this hollowness has attracted a huge morning audience.
- The corruption and hollowness revealed in the prosecution of this war are too contemptible for words.
- Perec was mocking the hollowness of the new consumer society before the sexual revolution.

Origin

Old English holh 'cave'; obscurely related to hole.

hold from Old English:
The ancient root of hold probably meant ‘to watch over’. Hold, ‘a large compartment in the lower part of a ship or aircraft’ has a different origin, is late 16th century and derives from hole (Old English) and is related to hollow (Old English), and possibly hull (Middle English). The phrase no holds barred, ‘with no rules or restrictions’, comes from the sport of wrestling. Certain holds, such as gripping round the throat, are banned as too dangerous. Sometimes, though, no-holds-barred contests would be set up where participants could do almost anything they liked.

Rhymes

Apollo, follow, Rollo, swallow, wallow

Definition of hollow in US English:

hollow

adjectiveˈhälōˈhɑloʊ

1Having a hole or empty space inside.
each fiber has a hollow core
Example sentencesExamples
- Typically the bread puffs up in baking leaving it hollow inside like an empty pocket, making it particularly suitable for stuffing to form a sandwich.
- Nick handed both men long rounded metal blades, hollow inside, attached to intricately carved handles.
- The inside was black and hollow, making it look like an empty tube.
- The framework is basically a hollow cylinder of collagenous connective tissue, the skin.
- Nests are located inside high, hollow branches, well outside the range of land-bound predators.
- Only the grimy streets and the hollow shell of his mother's home remain.
- Several large edible crabs have burrowed under the mast and others live inside the hollow structure.
- Here, the railing separates from the wall creating a hollow space with ample daylight filtering in through a skylight directly above.
- The surveys concluded that the tree's trunk was essentially hollow and there were large areas of deadwood within its crown.
- I hadn't had breakfast, and my stomach felt hollow.
- The cochlea is a coiled, hollow tube inside the inner ear that enables us to hear.
- Female Bornean tree hole frogs lay their eggs in the rotting holes of hollow tree stumps so that offspring can grow in a pool of water.
- Newspapers, overdue bills, grocery lists, and scraps paper filled the hollow space.
- Blood vessels are essentially hollow tubes that carry blood to the organs and tissues throughout your body.
- A record £16 million worth of hash was found inside elaborately designed hollow doorframes.
- Chelsea's stomach felt hollow, as if she hadn't just eaten a half hour ago.
- Yamasaki used another method, which essentially made the building a hollow steel tube.
- He could barely see them, as they were tucked away inside of a giant hollow tree.
- A broken bone with a hollow space inside indicated that the creature was a carnivore, but yielded few other clues.
- So why was she feeling so hollow inside right now?
Synonyms
empty, not solid, void, unfilled, vacant, hollowed out
1. 1.1 (of a thing) having a depression in its surface; concave.
  hollow cheeks
  Example sentencesExamples
  Covered in dirt, blood, scruffy from several days worth of beard, eyes sunken and hollow; he looked like a different man.
  His cheeks were slightly more hollow compared to the last time she had saw him, and his hair was longer.
  His face is hollow, his eyes sunken, he can barely lift his head from the bed.
  She was much thinner, her cheeks beginning to look hollow.
  His sunken chest, stooped shoulders, and hollow eyes lend him the appearance of a man twice his age.
  When you're about 60, the penalty for remaining rockstar-thin is a cadaverous face and hollow cheeks.
  He's skinny and angular, with a hollow face, jaundiced skin, sunken black eyes and a flaxen mop.
  He was very handsome, except for the pale skin that was turning brown and the sunken cheeks and other visible hollow or gaunt areas.
  If the cows are under fed or fed an imbalance ration then they will look hollow, with a triangular appearance at this point.
  She is skeletally thin, with hollow, cadaverous eyes and cheeks.
  Then images of children with bloated bellies, hollow cheeks, and heavy-lidded eyes will begin to go around the world.
  Facial wasting, a condition identified by sunken cheeks, hollow eyes and temples is caused by a loss of fat tissue under the skin.
  The driver was 18 to 19 years old, 5ft 6ins tall, hairy with a slim build, dark eyes, a gaunt face and hollow cheeks.
  She looks as though she neither ate nor slept during the entire shoot, with her dark-circled eyes, gaunt frame, and hollow cheeks.
  They had hollow eyes and sunken cheeks, and they wailed horribly in the darkness.
  My cheeks were hollow, my eyes had sunk into my face and my skin was terrible.
  In a single day his stubbly cheeks had begun to look hollow, and the muscles of his shoulders and legs stood out in dehydrated splendor.
  His angular face, with its long, sloping, jaw line, narrow chin and hollow cheeks, suggests the fragility of china.
  They are generally in blue, green, white or occasionally amethyst glass, and are often cut with shallow, concave hollow diamonds.
  Her cheeks were sunken and hollow, her body almost frail-looking, her hair limp and sticking to her face.
  Synonyms
  sunken, deep-set, concave, depressed, dented, indented, caved in
2. 1.2 (of a sound) echoing, as though made in or on an empty container.
  a hollow cough
  Example sentencesExamples
  The terrible music alternates between sounding hollow, tinny, and shrill.
  Hand claps, body slaps, foot stomps, and the hollow sounds of the boxes being hit built into complex and satisfying rhythmic structures.
  A few more hollow noises that sounded like metal on metal made him certain.
  Far above us, the grey clouds got sick of threatening and decided to act, and a hollow boom of thunder sounded.
  The sound is hollow and muffled throughout the film, and the bass has been cranked up to make up for the overall lack of punch.
  I dropped the pole and it clattered to the pier with a hollow thunk.
  Bake until biscuits are golden on top and bottom and sound hollow when tapped, about 10 minutes.
  The large wooden doors closed behind him automatically with a hollow boom, not unlike the sound of a tomb being shut.
  You should hear a hollow sound when the melon is thumped.
  The sound is hollow and tinny, and the dialogue is often quite difficult to understand.
  The final curtain closed on the valedictory sound effect off-stage - the hollow thud of an axe chopping down the cherry trees in the lost orchard.
  She turned as she heard hollow footsteps echo through the temple, and saw James approaching her door.
  But all that came forth was the hollow click of an empty gun.
  The cold, hollow sounds of their steps echoing behind them made the little hairs on the back of his neck rise.
  Apparently, there was a struggle going on; some muffled yelps were heard, and a few hollow thuds resounded in the now ominous silence.
  Without warning, a massive, hollow boom resounded from the ridges up near the front lines.
  A sound that is close to this is the hollow sound of a tuning fork.
  I heard a small hollow thud from behind me and a little laugh.
  It hit a tree with a hollow clunk and bounced back to land at his feet.
  It makes a dry rustling sound, and a hollow echo as the cans and harder litter roll away across the dirty tiles.
  She remembered the dark, cold cavern and the hollow echoes of her footsteps as she walked into its darkness.
  Synonyms
  dull, low, flat, toneless, expressionless
2Without significance.
the result was a hollow victory
Example sentencesExamples
- The game had to be played to prevent further riots, but the Juventus victory was hollow.
- Does not the claim of the government which claims to promote travel and tourism appear hollow to you?
- A deeper read, however, suggests something more complicated, a pattern of embarrassing defeats and hollow victories.
- Geoffrey, bless his heart, is over the top as Harry; his part in the film is unclear and a little hollow.
- Hey, a hollow victory is better than no victory at all, right?
- Even when I don't think about it, I feel so hollow and worthless.
- The victory in certain lights does seem indeed to be a hollow miracle.
- Parents fighting the closure of their children's junior school won a hollow victory at London's Appeal Court last night.
- For me it's just a hollow form of words, with no real content, much like ‘Have a nice day’.
- There is a call for peaceful direct action that could leave the hardliners with a certain but hollow victory when the election results come in.
- Albion scored a second to virtual silence, for it seemed a hollow victory.
- Everything becomes absurd and dull at the same time, and the film appears both amusing and hollow.
- If Colin wins his case, I feel it will be a hollow victory for him, whether or not he realizes this now.
- No wonder efforts during the past two years to change how public companies operate seem so hollow.
- Fielding women candidates can be a hollow victory if they are not resourced to campaign effectively and confidently.
- Such excuses sound pretty hollow right now, even to me.
- She went to far and my threat to kill her wasn't hollow, I just needed a way and Erik was the solution to this problem.
- At these, it is remarkably effective, but the whole business feels rather hollow.
- She got a standing ovation at the end, but it all must have felt pretty hollow.
- But even if you happen to be the big winner, your victory may prove hollow.
- Were we to have lost, we would have to start out again next January and what I would have to say to the lads would be a bit hollow - given that I am saying it for the last three years in a row.
Synonyms
meaningless, empty, valueless, worthless, useless, pyrrhic, futile, of no use, of no value, of no avail, fruitless, profitless, pointless, unavailing
1. 2.1 Insincere.
  a hollow promise
  Example sentencesExamples
  There has never been a time when the cry for unlimited congressional power has rung so hollow.
  There are some interesting figures quoted in the article - figures that don't shock or surprise me anymore, but just provoke hollow laughter and indignation.
  The first item on that shopping list will trigger hollow laughter among the rest of the world's steel makers.
  A fervent protester since her early college days, this is a woman who believes in action and follow-through rather than hollow promises made on election campaigns.
  He is from all appearances, an utterly hollow man whose every action belies the religion he wears on his sleeve.
  And we should try to ignore the hollow laughter at that description from those who use it every day.
  Alex couldn't stop the hollow laugh that forced its way out of her.
  The promise of new jobs rings somewhat hollow to a community with an unemployment rate well below the national average.
  A click sounded, and a hollow laughter echoed through the room she was in.
  Are those words ringing a little hollow for you?
  Is Williams's redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise?
  Those of us with our eye on the ball know that the promise of a technology-supported, Utopian future is a hollow one.
  We will not hand over our consciences in return for a hollow promise of safety…
  We cement our relationships with our barren love and hollow dialogues.
  The Forest Service's argument, however, sounded hollow to many wilderness advocates.
  "You're lying, " she replies, breaking into a hollow laugh.
  The England captain did his best to look on the bright side, which was understandable but felt rather hollow.
  So any promises of anonymity ring a little bit hollow to me.
  Looking towards next season all the claims that the new stadium is not affecting cash flow seem very hollow.
  In the face of his failure to do anything about the carnage of past months, his promise to preserve national unity has a somewhat hollow sound.
  It was a very hollow gesture.
  Synonyms
  insincere, hypocritical, feigned, pretended, artificial, false, dissembling, dissimulating, deceitful, sham, cynical, counterfeit, spurious, untrue, unsound, flimsy, two-faced, double-dealing

nounˈhälōˈhɑloʊ

1A hole or depression in something.
a hollow at the base of a large tree
Example sentencesExamples
- They also will use an old woodpecker or other hole or even hollows in the earth beneath exposed tree roots.
- She fingered the single pearl that nestle in the hollow of her throat.
- They dug hollows in the ground, covered them over just as wrens do and lived in that hollow.
- For instance there were certain stones to be found in fields or graveyards with a hole or hollow which at times was full of water.
- European Starlings are cavity nesters, and nests are generally located in natural hollows, old woodpecker holes, birdhouses, or building eaves and crevices.
- I half - lifted, half-dragged it to the side of the road, to a grassy hollow at the base of a huge live oak.
- I pulled the last button through what I hoped was its corresponding hole just below the hollow of my neck, and for the first time looked down at my breakfast.
- They are cavity-nesters, finding a natural hollow in a tree, an old woodpecker hole, a hole in a building, or a man-made nest box.
- He pressed a warm kiss into the hollow at the base of her throat.
- The hollow in the stone was about 20 centimetres in diameter and about 30 centimetres deep.
- They would carry a block of ochre to the nearest waterhole or spring, mix ochre and water into a paste and shape it again into a block, with a slight hollow at the bottom.
- And once there, I leaned my back against a hollow in a boulder, not the smooth planks of a bench thoughtfully placed in the shade of twin live oaks.
- Fillers add volume under the surface of the skin to plump up creases, divots and hollows from the inside out.
- How convenient it was that all the prey species were excavating holes and hollows and leafy chambers, and stuffing them with helpless nestlings just when he needed them.
- One hand rests against the hollow at the base of his throat - is this an invitation to trust him?
- When the tide is out at Strandhill one can see clearly the indents and hollows in the sand, reminding us that extreme care needs to be taken when swimming there.
- Her cheekbones protrude from the top of her face, the hollows below seem to sink all the way to her teeth before climbing the gully of her jawbones.
- Gideon could see the blue hollows under her eyes and thin creases of worry around the red bow of her mouth.
- I have walked the beach with the dogs when the wind howled across the sand, obliterating our footprints and forming ribs and patterns in the hollows and over the dunes.
- From his groin to his knees, his skin was indented with hollows like large smallpox scars.
Synonyms
hole, pit, cavity, crater, trough, cave, cavern
1. 1.1 A small valley.
  the house fell behind as they climbed out of the hollow
  Example sentencesExamples
  In the hollow of this tiny valley, lay a white public house.
  Directly to my left, a rectangular plantation almost ready for harvest stretches to the next hollow like a roll of teased Astroturf.
  Modest-looking little plants that nestle in the moist soils of swamps or mountain hollows, mosses fascinate biologists.
  Set in three-quarters of an acre, derelict Lambs Barton Stables nestle amid landscaped gardens in a hollow of land with sea views.
  The granite peaks and sylvan hollows in the Blue Ridge Mountains are the results of geological changes and metamorphosis over perhaps a billion year period of time.
  To the north, the mountains wind and smoothly melt into the Pre-Balkan region and the Danube plain; while to the south steep mountain slopes tower above a series of hollows and fields.
  This park, tucked away in the hills and hollows of central Kentucky, protects the longest cave system in the world, a five-level labyrinth with more than 365 miles of tunnels.
  In my home state, librarians used to ride horses into the remote hollows and valleys in the rural parts of pre-war Kentucky.
  Ahead were more hills, more little valleys, more slopes and hollows and knolls.
  An award-winning cabin in Monteagle is nestled in a Tennessee mountain hollow and projects from the hillside to overlook a mountain stream.
  Once a bustling coastal township it is now a sleepy hollow with a beautiful beach, a school, and a church.
  Nestled in a hollow at Hunters Point, right up against the bay, we found our goal.
  Nestling in a wooded hollow at the edge of the Queen's Balmoral estate on Scotland's Royal Deeside, the whitewashed mansion was bequeathed to Charles by the Queen Mother.
  And then there were those Yorkshire folk legends, lurking beneath a thin veneer of Christianity in the hollows and hills of Yorkshire and Scotland.
  Often swathed in cloud, otherwise fading into a purple haze flecked with white where winter snows remain in gullies and hollows, the highest point is Pic d' Anie.
  She watched this from her third-story bedroom in the Darville estate, and her gaze wandered over to the farm that nestled into the hollow.
  The famous Surprise View is a great hollow with valleys leading north and south and moorland roads climbing out.
  Cool, humid air after the warmth of the city, and patches of fog in the hollows; smells of car exhaust on the way out, and fishy smells once we got there.
  It was a quaint little place, nestled in a hollow in the hills, and smoke rose cozily out of the chimneys of the houses.
  A thaw finally set in but the snow remained in many hollows and mountainous areas right into the summer of that year.
  Synonyms
  valley, vale, dale

verbˈhälōˈhɑloʊ

[with object]

1Form by making a hole.
a tunnel was hollowed out in a mountain range
Example sentencesExamples
- He was being held in some sort of dungeon, which had been hollowed out of the ground.
- In the Middle Ages vineyards flourished on this bleak Castilian plateau and cellars were hollowed out of the limestone under the town.
- Gazing in the direction of his arm, he saw a small cave, hollowed into the mountain.
- Until the early years of this century the traditional Russian coffin was hollowed from a single piece of wood.
- Slowly, gradually, a tunnel, large enough for people to walk through, was hollowed out of the gigantic mound of earth.
- The earliest hives were hollowed out of tree trunks, and this practice still survives in some societies.
- Two floors were hollowed out of the hillside beneath the Research Station, so that the facility could withstand a direct hit from a German bomb.
- The room was circular and looked like it had been hollowed out from some giant tree.
- They were led into a large cave chamber that had been partially hollowed out and worked smooth.
- The teponaxtli was a long horizontal drum hollowed from a log and beautifully carved.
- Bells can be hollowed from wood or made from glass or ceramics, but most are cast or forged from metal.
- Each circular city had been hollowed out from the ground, and covered by a great, pink-tinted dome.
- Unlike modern harps, the soundbox would have be hollowed out from a single piece of wood and finished with a thin panel to ‘seal’ the sound box.
- It's about three feet long and was hollowed out naturally by termites, which is the way they are made.
- The eye, as it drifts across the cliff, is arrested by a frontage of columns, which invites us into a sanctuary hollowed from the stone.
Synonyms
gouge out, scoop out, dig out, cut out, excavate, channel
1. 1.1 Make a depression in.
  Example sentencesExamples
  Once under the wilderness area, Revett aims to spend 30 years hollowing out an untouched patch of mountain, and extracting its riches.
  The concrete block has been hollowed out and is packed with enough plastic explosives to kill us
  At first he thought the task impossible, but then he saw a stone that had been hollowed out by dripping water.
  Pour in remainder of cake batter and smooth the top, hollowing it slightly.
  Jiman, meanwhile, was hollowing out a log for a new drum commissioned from Joshua.
  However, to hollow out the glacial boulders, made of Vermont granite, he used a high-intensity blowtorch.
  For instance, termites had begun hollowing out live trees instead of just dead ones.
  Its oversized cap can be sliced off, hollowed, and used for serving soup.
  The first canoes are thought to have been used by Carib Indians and native North Americans and were made by hollowing out large logs.
  Today in the UK, demand grows each year as more and more people realise that pumpkins aren't simply for hollowing out to make Hallowe'en decorations.
  The company also is working on a tool that's driven by a servo motor that will allow the tips to be hollowed out so coolant can flow right to the tip.
  They hollow out the side of a tree and dig down to form a nest.
  The rock is soft enough to be hollowed out, but it remains solid and waterproof.
  Thomas said the tree had a split trunk, part of which had been damaged in the first storm, and the second half hollowed by the second lightning strike.
  Yellow and green squash, called koosa, are hollowed out, stuffed with rice and ground lamb meat, and cooked in a tomato sauce.
  People make pottery without a wheel by hollowing out a ball of clay and molding it into the desired shape.
  Because the barrel's end is hollowed out, saving weight, the end is blunt rather than rounded.
  Some of the trees were completely destroyed while others were hollowed out.
  Above the waterfall, the snow - although solid and deep - had been hollowed out by running meltwater.
  We made the centrepiece by hollowing out a large pumpkin and stuffing it with dried leaves, twigs and branches.
  I opened the books up and found that they had both been hollowed out.
  The king of the bruschetta category was a little square of toast hollowed in the middle like a toad-in-the-hole and filled with egg, bits of truffle, and more melted Fontina cheese.

Phrases

beat someone hollow

Defeat or surpass someone completely or thoroughly.
Example sentencesExamples
- Given the standards of Indian movies, the splendid three-hour session will ensure that you beat the romance on the screen hollow!
- Kerala's Shiva Priya's dream run came to an end in the 63 kg division where Asian champion Aruna Mishra beat her hollow in the first round.
- I had the pleasure of beating him hollow at Pro Evolution Soccer 4.
- Team-Pakistan beat India hollow at the Kotla grounds.
- Irish landlords were bad enough in the past, but this new importation from England beats them hollow.
Synonyms
trounce, defeat utterly, beat, annihilate, drub, give a drubbing to, crush, rout, worst, overwhelm, outclass

have hollow legs (or a hollow leg)

informal Have the ability or capacity to consume an unusually large amount of food or drink.
I'm usually hungry an hour after I leave—I just have hollow legs and should order more food
he's got hollow legs, so plying him with drink doesn't work

in the hollow of one's hand

Entirely in one's power.
great events lay in the hollow of his hand

Origin

Old English holh ‘cave’; obscurely related to hole.

单词	hollow
释义	Definition of hollow in English: hollow adjective ˈhɒləʊˈhɑloʊ 1Having a hole or empty space inside. a hollow metal tube Example sentencesExamples Female Bornean tree hole frogs lay their eggs in the rotting holes of hollow tree stumps so that offspring can grow in a pool of water. The inside was black and hollow, making it look like an empty tube. Blood vessels are essentially hollow tubes that carry blood to the organs and tissues throughout your body. Here, the railing separates from the wall creating a hollow space with ample daylight filtering in through a skylight directly above. I hadn't had breakfast, and my stomach felt hollow. Nick handed both men long rounded metal blades, hollow inside, attached to intricately carved handles. Yamasaki used another method, which essentially made the building a hollow steel tube. The framework is basically a hollow cylinder of collagenous connective tissue, the skin. Several large edible crabs have burrowed under the mast and others live inside the hollow structure. A broken bone with a hollow space inside indicated that the creature was a carnivore, but yielded few other clues. A record £16 million worth of hash was found inside elaborately designed hollow doorframes. The cochlea is a coiled, hollow tube inside the inner ear that enables us to hear. Chelsea's stomach felt hollow, as if she hadn't just eaten a half hour ago. Nests are located inside high, hollow branches, well outside the range of land-bound predators. So why was she feeling so hollow inside right now? Newspapers, overdue bills, grocery lists, and scraps paper filled the hollow space. The surveys concluded that the tree's trunk was essentially hollow and there were large areas of deadwood within its crown. Typically the bread puffs up in baking leaving it hollow inside like an empty pocket, making it particularly suitable for stuffing to form a sandwich. He could barely see them, as they were tucked away inside of a giant hollow tree. Only the grimy streets and the hollow shell of his mother's home remain. Synonyms empty, not solid, void, unfilled, vacant, hollowed out 1.1 Having a concave or sunken appearance. her cheeks were hollow and she had dark circles under her eyes Example sentencesExamples They had hollow eyes and sunken cheeks, and they wailed horribly in the darkness. She is skeletally thin, with hollow, cadaverous eyes and cheeks. She was much thinner, her cheeks beginning to look hollow. When you're about 60, the penalty for remaining rockstar-thin is a cadaverous face and hollow cheeks. His face is hollow, his eyes sunken, he can barely lift his head from the bed. His angular face, with its long, sloping, jaw line, narrow chin and hollow cheeks, suggests the fragility of china. My cheeks were hollow, my eyes had sunk into my face and my skin was terrible. His cheeks were slightly more hollow compared to the last time she had saw him, and his hair was longer. His sunken chest, stooped shoulders, and hollow eyes lend him the appearance of a man twice his age. If the cows are under fed or fed an imbalance ration then they will look hollow, with a triangular appearance at this point. Facial wasting, a condition identified by sunken cheeks, hollow eyes and temples is caused by a loss of fat tissue under the skin. He was very handsome, except for the pale skin that was turning brown and the sunken cheeks and other visible hollow or gaunt areas. In a single day his stubbly cheeks had begun to look hollow, and the muscles of his shoulders and legs stood out in dehydrated splendor. Then images of children with bloated bellies, hollow cheeks, and heavy-lidded eyes will begin to go around the world. Her cheeks were sunken and hollow, her body almost frail-looking, her hair limp and sticking to her face. Covered in dirt, blood, scruffy from several days worth of beard, eyes sunken and hollow; he looked like a different man. She looks as though she neither ate nor slept during the entire shoot, with her dark-circled eyes, gaunt frame, and hollow cheeks. The driver was 18 to 19 years old, 5ft 6ins tall, hairy with a slim build, dark eyes, a gaunt face and hollow cheeks. They are generally in blue, green, white or occasionally amethyst glass, and are often cut with shallow, concave hollow diamonds. He's skinny and angular, with a hollow face, jaundiced skin, sunken black eyes and a flaxen mop. Synonyms sunken, deep-set, concave, depressed, dented, indented, caved in rare incurvate 1.2 (of a sound) echoing, as though made in or on an empty container. a hollow groan Example sentencesExamples I dropped the pole and it clattered to the pier with a hollow thunk. You should hear a hollow sound when the melon is thumped. The large wooden doors closed behind him automatically with a hollow boom, not unlike the sound of a tomb being shut. A few more hollow noises that sounded like metal on metal made him certain. She turned as she heard hollow footsteps echo through the temple, and saw James approaching her door. Bake until biscuits are golden on top and bottom and sound hollow when tapped, about 10 minutes. A sound that is close to this is the hollow sound of a tuning fork. Hand claps, body slaps, foot stomps, and the hollow sounds of the boxes being hit built into complex and satisfying rhythmic structures. The final curtain closed on the valedictory sound effect off-stage - the hollow thud of an axe chopping down the cherry trees in the lost orchard. It hit a tree with a hollow clunk and bounced back to land at his feet. But all that came forth was the hollow click of an empty gun. Far above us, the grey clouds got sick of threatening and decided to act, and a hollow boom of thunder sounded. The sound is hollow and muffled throughout the film, and the bass has been cranked up to make up for the overall lack of punch. The cold, hollow sounds of their steps echoing behind them made the little hairs on the back of his neck rise. Apparently, there was a struggle going on; some muffled yelps were heard, and a few hollow thuds resounded in the now ominous silence. She remembered the dark, cold cavern and the hollow echoes of her footsteps as she walked into its darkness. It makes a dry rustling sound, and a hollow echo as the cans and harder litter roll away across the dirty tiles. I heard a small hollow thud from behind me and a little laugh. Without warning, a massive, hollow boom resounded from the ridges up near the front lines. The sound is hollow and tinny, and the dialogue is often quite difficult to understand. The terrible music alternates between sounding hollow, tinny, and shrill. Synonyms dull, low, flat, toneless, expressionless muffled, muted deep, rumbling, echoing, sepulchral 2Without real significance or value. the result was a hollow victory Example sentencesExamples A deeper read, however, suggests something more complicated, a pattern of embarrassing defeats and hollow victories. The victory in certain lights does seem indeed to be a hollow miracle. Even when I don't think about it, I feel so hollow and worthless. But even if you happen to be the big winner, your victory may prove hollow. There is a call for peaceful direct action that could leave the hardliners with a certain but hollow victory when the election results come in. The game had to be played to prevent further riots, but the Juventus victory was hollow. At these, it is remarkably effective, but the whole business feels rather hollow. She went to far and my threat to kill her wasn't hollow, I just needed a way and Erik was the solution to this problem. Such excuses sound pretty hollow right now, even to me. Geoffrey, bless his heart, is over the top as Harry; his part in the film is unclear and a little hollow. Were we to have lost, we would have to start out again next January and what I would have to say to the lads would be a bit hollow - given that I am saying it for the last three years in a row. Hey, a hollow victory is better than no victory at all, right? No wonder efforts during the past two years to change how public companies operate seem so hollow. Albion scored a second to virtual silence, for it seemed a hollow victory. Parents fighting the closure of their children's junior school won a hollow victory at London's Appeal Court last night. Everything becomes absurd and dull at the same time, and the film appears both amusing and hollow. Fielding women candidates can be a hollow victory if they are not resourced to campaign effectively and confidently. For me it's just a hollow form of words, with no real content, much like ‘Have a nice day’. Does not the claim of the government which claims to promote travel and tourism appear hollow to you? She got a standing ovation at the end, but it all must have felt pretty hollow. If Colin wins his case, I feel it will be a hollow victory for him, whether or not he realizes this now. Synonyms meaningless, empty, valueless, worthless, useless, pyrrhic, futile, of no use, of no value, of no avail, fruitless, profitless, pointless, unavailing archaic bootless 2.1 Insincere. a hollow promise Example sentencesExamples We cement our relationships with our barren love and hollow dialogues. So any promises of anonymity ring a little bit hollow to me. In the face of his failure to do anything about the carnage of past months, his promise to preserve national unity has a somewhat hollow sound. There has never been a time when the cry for unlimited congressional power has rung so hollow. Looking towards next season all the claims that the new stadium is not affecting cash flow seem very hollow. He is from all appearances, an utterly hollow man whose every action belies the religion he wears on his sleeve. The England captain did his best to look on the bright side, which was understandable but felt rather hollow. The Forest Service's argument, however, sounded hollow to many wilderness advocates. And we should try to ignore the hollow laughter at that description from those who use it every day. Those of us with our eye on the ball know that the promise of a technology-supported, Utopian future is a hollow one. The promise of new jobs rings somewhat hollow to a community with an unemployment rate well below the national average. It was a very hollow gesture. "You're lying, " she replies, breaking into a hollow laugh. The first item on that shopping list will trigger hollow laughter among the rest of the world's steel makers. Is Williams's redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? A click sounded, and a hollow laughter echoed through the room she was in. Are those words ringing a little hollow for you? A fervent protester since her early college days, this is a woman who believes in action and follow-through rather than hollow promises made on election campaigns. There are some interesting figures quoted in the article - figures that don't shock or surprise me anymore, but just provoke hollow laughter and indignation. Alex couldn't stop the hollow laugh that forced its way out of her. We will not hand over our consciences in return for a hollow promise of safety… Synonyms insincere, hypocritical, feigned, pretended, artificial, false, dissembling, dissimulating, deceitful, sham, cynical, counterfeit, spurious, untrue, unsound, flimsy, two-faced, double-dealing informal phoney, pretend noun ˈhɒləʊˈhɑloʊ 1A hole or depression in something. a hollow at the base of a large tree Example sentencesExamples For instance there were certain stones to be found in fields or graveyards with a hole or hollow which at times was full of water. She fingered the single pearl that nestle in the hollow of her throat. Gideon could see the blue hollows under her eyes and thin creases of worry around the red bow of her mouth. They dug hollows in the ground, covered them over just as wrens do and lived in that hollow. I half - lifted, half-dragged it to the side of the road, to a grassy hollow at the base of a huge live oak. One hand rests against the hollow at the base of his throat - is this an invitation to trust him? They also will use an old woodpecker or other hole or even hollows in the earth beneath exposed tree roots. I pulled the last button through what I hoped was its corresponding hole just below the hollow of my neck, and for the first time looked down at my breakfast. Her cheekbones protrude from the top of her face, the hollows below seem to sink all the way to her teeth before climbing the gully of her jawbones. Fillers add volume under the surface of the skin to plump up creases, divots and hollows from the inside out. And once there, I leaned my back against a hollow in a boulder, not the smooth planks of a bench thoughtfully placed in the shade of twin live oaks. He pressed a warm kiss into the hollow at the base of her throat. The hollow in the stone was about 20 centimetres in diameter and about 30 centimetres deep. European Starlings are cavity nesters, and nests are generally located in natural hollows, old woodpecker holes, birdhouses, or building eaves and crevices. They would carry a block of ochre to the nearest waterhole or spring, mix ochre and water into a paste and shape it again into a block, with a slight hollow at the bottom. They are cavity-nesters, finding a natural hollow in a tree, an old woodpecker hole, a hole in a building, or a man-made nest box. From his groin to his knees, his skin was indented with hollows like large smallpox scars. When the tide is out at Strandhill one can see clearly the indents and hollows in the sand, reminding us that extreme care needs to be taken when swimming there. I have walked the beach with the dogs when the wind howled across the sand, obliterating our footprints and forming ribs and patterns in the hollows and over the dunes. How convenient it was that all the prey species were excavating holes and hollows and leafy chambers, and stuffing them with helpless nestlings just when he needed them. Synonyms hole, pit, cavity, crater, trough, cave, cavern depression, indentation, concavity, dent, dint, dip, dimple, dish, basin, niche, nook, cranny, recess 1.1 An enclosed space within something. he held them in the hollow of his hand Example sentencesExamples The venerable ascetic Mahavira for a year and a month wore clothes; after that time he walked about naked, and accepted alms in the hollow of his hand. He dug snow away from its end, and from within a hollow in the log retrieved two wooden barbed spears. Apparently most of the parrots here are happy couples and have set up homes in the hollows of the dead trees in their enclosure. We are guided on this dive by Morne, a veteran of the lake who seems to have an uncanny knowledge of where all the best caverns and hollows are located. The dock drops sheer to the sandy bottom at 21m; some sections are undercut, forming deep hollows sheltering sweetlips and other fish. On special occasions, these bricks could be positioned in specially created hollows in the walls for creating an extremely aesthetic effect. Peering into the hollows of trees, you may come face to face with this wraithlike creature. Electrical and communication components can be encased in nonconductive materials and fitted together within concrete hollows behind prescribed openings in the walls for outlets. She had hid for a time within the hollow of the oak tree as pursuers raced through the forest looking for her. She finally spotted among the huge trees a gigantic oak with a large hollow at the base of its trunk that was just large enough for a little girl to go hide in and sleep. Put a spoonful in the hollow of each potato boat. At times, the puppies hide in the hollow of a tree, under which they have created a burrow, he adds, explaining some aspects of their behaviour. There are cave-like hollows in the walls, deep fissures, and piles of sharply splintered rock strewn about as if blasting has just taken place. Pick it up and you discover underneath, nestled in a cutout hollow of thick cardboard, a smaller book! Many swifts nest in caves, on cliffs or in hollows of dead trees. I run a few drops into the hollow of my palm and wipe my face. I pulled the small piece of parchment from within the hollow of the band and handed it to Janet for her to read out loud. The actuator body pivots about a pivot axis and is attached to the cartridge bearing assembly disposed within an inner hollow of the actuator body. The boy stood like a statue, looking at the ink in the hollow of his hand. In this way the stone becomes honeycombed and eventually larger, cavernous hollows can form. Synonyms recess, corner, alcove, cranny, crevice, niche, bay, inglenook, cavity, cubbyhole, pigeonhole, opening, gap, aperture 1.2 A small valley. the village nestles in a hollow on the edge of the New Forest Example sentencesExamples Ahead were more hills, more little valleys, more slopes and hollows and knolls. To the north, the mountains wind and smoothly melt into the Pre-Balkan region and the Danube plain; while to the south steep mountain slopes tower above a series of hollows and fields. In my home state, librarians used to ride horses into the remote hollows and valleys in the rural parts of pre-war Kentucky. In the hollow of this tiny valley, lay a white public house. It was a quaint little place, nestled in a hollow in the hills, and smoke rose cozily out of the chimneys of the houses. Once a bustling coastal township it is now a sleepy hollow with a beautiful beach, a school, and a church. She watched this from her third-story bedroom in the Darville estate, and her gaze wandered over to the farm that nestled into the hollow. Cool, humid air after the warmth of the city, and patches of fog in the hollows; smells of car exhaust on the way out, and fishy smells once we got there. Nestling in a wooded hollow at the edge of the Queen's Balmoral estate on Scotland's Royal Deeside, the whitewashed mansion was bequeathed to Charles by the Queen Mother. And then there were those Yorkshire folk legends, lurking beneath a thin veneer of Christianity in the hollows and hills of Yorkshire and Scotland. Directly to my left, a rectangular plantation almost ready for harvest stretches to the next hollow like a roll of teased Astroturf. An award-winning cabin in Monteagle is nestled in a Tennessee mountain hollow and projects from the hillside to overlook a mountain stream. Modest-looking little plants that nestle in the moist soils of swamps or mountain hollows, mosses fascinate biologists. The granite peaks and sylvan hollows in the Blue Ridge Mountains are the results of geological changes and metamorphosis over perhaps a billion year period of time. Often swathed in cloud, otherwise fading into a purple haze flecked with white where winter snows remain in gullies and hollows, the highest point is Pic d' Anie. The famous Surprise View is a great hollow with valleys leading north and south and moorland roads climbing out. Nestled in a hollow at Hunters Point, right up against the bay, we found our goal. Set in three-quarters of an acre, derelict Lambs Barton Stables nestle amid landscaped gardens in a hollow of land with sea views. This park, tucked away in the hills and hollows of central Kentucky, protects the longest cave system in the world, a five-level labyrinth with more than 365 miles of tunnels. A thaw finally set in but the snow remained in many hollows and mountainous areas right into the summer of that year. Synonyms valley, vale, dale British dene, combe, slade Northern English clough Scottish glen, strath literary dell, dingle verb ˈhɒləʊˈhɑloʊ [with object] 1Form by making a hole. a tunnel was hollowed out in a mountain range Example sentencesExamples Slowly, gradually, a tunnel, large enough for people to walk through, was hollowed out of the gigantic mound of earth. He was being held in some sort of dungeon, which had been hollowed out of the ground. Gazing in the direction of his arm, he saw a small cave, hollowed into the mountain. Each circular city had been hollowed out from the ground, and covered by a great, pink-tinted dome. The teponaxtli was a long horizontal drum hollowed from a log and beautifully carved. Bells can be hollowed from wood or made from glass or ceramics, but most are cast or forged from metal. It's about three feet long and was hollowed out naturally by termites, which is the way they are made. The earliest hives were hollowed out of tree trunks, and this practice still survives in some societies. Until the early years of this century the traditional Russian coffin was hollowed from a single piece of wood. The room was circular and looked like it had been hollowed out from some giant tree. Unlike modern harps, the soundbox would have be hollowed out from a single piece of wood and finished with a thin panel to ‘seal’ the sound box. Two floors were hollowed out of the hillside beneath the Research Station, so that the facility could withstand a direct hit from a German bomb. The eye, as it drifts across the cliff, is arrested by a frontage of columns, which invites us into a sanctuary hollowed from the stone. In the Middle Ages vineyards flourished on this bleak Castilian plateau and cellars were hollowed out of the limestone under the town. They were led into a large cave chamber that had been partially hollowed out and worked smooth. Synonyms gouge out, scoop out, dig out, cut out, excavate, channel 1.1 Make a hollow in. Flora's laugh hollowed her cheeks Example sentencesExamples People make pottery without a wheel by hollowing out a ball of clay and molding it into the desired shape. For instance, termites had begun hollowing out live trees instead of just dead ones. Its oversized cap can be sliced off, hollowed, and used for serving soup. Today in the UK, demand grows each year as more and more people realise that pumpkins aren't simply for hollowing out to make Hallowe'en decorations. Above the waterfall, the snow - although solid and deep - had been hollowed out by running meltwater. The rock is soft enough to be hollowed out, but it remains solid and waterproof. I opened the books up and found that they had both been hollowed out. Once under the wilderness area, Revett aims to spend 30 years hollowing out an untouched patch of mountain, and extracting its riches. The concrete block has been hollowed out and is packed with enough plastic explosives to kill us We made the centrepiece by hollowing out a large pumpkin and stuffing it with dried leaves, twigs and branches. At first he thought the task impossible, but then he saw a stone that had been hollowed out by dripping water. Because the barrel's end is hollowed out, saving weight, the end is blunt rather than rounded. The king of the bruschetta category was a little square of toast hollowed in the middle like a toad-in-the-hole and filled with egg, bits of truffle, and more melted Fontina cheese. Some of the trees were completely destroyed while others were hollowed out. They hollow out the side of a tree and dig down to form a nest. Thomas said the tree had a split trunk, part of which had been damaged in the first storm, and the second half hollowed by the second lightning strike. Pour in remainder of cake batter and smooth the top, hollowing it slightly. The company also is working on a tool that's driven by a servo motor that will allow the tips to be hollowed out so coolant can flow right to the tip. However, to hollow out the glacial boulders, made of Vermont granite, he used a high-intensity blowtorch. Yellow and green squash, called koosa, are hollowed out, stuffed with rice and ground lamb meat, and cooked in a tomato sauce. The first canoes are thought to have been used by Carib Indians and native North Americans and were made by hollowing out large logs. Jiman, meanwhile, was hollowing out a log for a new drum commissioned from Joshua. Phrases beat someone hollow Defeat someone thoroughly. Example sentencesExamples I had the pleasure of beating him hollow at Pro Evolution Soccer 4. Kerala's Shiva Priya's dream run came to an end in the 63 kg division where Asian champion Aruna Mishra beat her hollow in the first round. Irish landlords were bad enough in the past, but this new importation from England beats them hollow. Team-Pakistan beat India hollow at the Kotla grounds. Given the standards of Indian movies, the splendid three-hour session will ensure that you beat the romance on the screen hollow! Synonyms trounce, defeat utterly, beat, annihilate, drub, give a drubbing to, crush, rout, worst, overwhelm, outclass have hollow legs (or a hollow leg) informal Have the ability or capacity to consume an unusually large amount of food or drink. I'm usually hungry an hour after I leave—I just have hollow legs and should order more food he's got hollow legs, so plying him with drink doesn't work Derivatives hollowly adverb ˈhɒləʊliˈhɑloʊli He called out, listening to his voice echo hollowly. Example sentencesExamples The sound echoed hollowly off the cavernous walls. ‘I don't know how to react to this,’ she whispered hollowly. However, styling does remain a vital part of fashion's vocabulary, and if it's not hollowly peddling the same old clothes it can be rather thrilling. We should stop boasting hollowly about how strong we are, and instead truly dedicate ourselves to attaining that inner strength which alone will guarantee serenity and peace. hollowness noun ˈhɒləʊnəsˈhɑloʊnəs I really miss my children, and that hollowness in my stomach that represents all that sadness never leaves me. Example sentencesExamples Their faces have taken on a sort of hollowness as they have aged. His emotional range extends from the bland to the sanctimonious and this hollowness has attracted a huge morning audience. The corruption and hollowness revealed in the prosecution of this war are too contemptible for words. Perec was mocking the hollowness of the new consumer society before the sexual revolution. Origin Old English holh 'cave'; obscurely related to hole. hold from Old English: The ancient root of hold probably meant ‘to watch over’. Hold, ‘a large compartment in the lower part of a ship or aircraft’ has a different origin, is late 16th century and derives from hole (Old English) and is related to hollow (Old English), and possibly hull (Middle English). The phrase no holds barred, ‘with no rules or restrictions’, comes from the sport of wrestling. Certain holds, such as gripping round the throat, are banned as too dangerous. Sometimes, though, no-holds-barred contests would be set up where participants could do almost anything they liked. Rhymes Apollo, follow, Rollo, swallow, wallow adj.1 phr. Definition of hollow in US English: hollow adjectiveˈhälōˈhɑloʊ 1Having a hole or empty space inside. each fiber has a hollow core Example sentencesExamples Typically the bread puffs up in baking leaving it hollow inside like an empty pocket, making it particularly suitable for stuffing to form a sandwich. Nick handed both men long rounded metal blades, hollow inside, attached to intricately carved handles. The inside was black and hollow, making it look like an empty tube. The framework is basically a hollow cylinder of collagenous connective tissue, the skin. Nests are located inside high, hollow branches, well outside the range of land-bound predators. Only the grimy streets and the hollow shell of his mother's home remain. Several large edible crabs have burrowed under the mast and others live inside the hollow structure. Here, the railing separates from the wall creating a hollow space with ample daylight filtering in through a skylight directly above. The surveys concluded that the tree's trunk was essentially hollow and there were large areas of deadwood within its crown. I hadn't had breakfast, and my stomach felt hollow. The cochlea is a coiled, hollow tube inside the inner ear that enables us to hear. Female Bornean tree hole frogs lay their eggs in the rotting holes of hollow tree stumps so that offspring can grow in a pool of water. Newspapers, overdue bills, grocery lists, and scraps paper filled the hollow space. Blood vessels are essentially hollow tubes that carry blood to the organs and tissues throughout your body. A record £16 million worth of hash was found inside elaborately designed hollow doorframes. Chelsea's stomach felt hollow, as if she hadn't just eaten a half hour ago. Yamasaki used another method, which essentially made the building a hollow steel tube. He could barely see them, as they were tucked away inside of a giant hollow tree. A broken bone with a hollow space inside indicated that the creature was a carnivore, but yielded few other clues. So why was she feeling so hollow inside right now? Synonyms empty, not solid, void, unfilled, vacant, hollowed out 1.1 (of a thing) having a depression in its surface; concave. hollow cheeks Example sentencesExamples Covered in dirt, blood, scruffy from several days worth of beard, eyes sunken and hollow; he looked like a different man. His cheeks were slightly more hollow compared to the last time she had saw him, and his hair was longer. His face is hollow, his eyes sunken, he can barely lift his head from the bed. She was much thinner, her cheeks beginning to look hollow. His sunken chest, stooped shoulders, and hollow eyes lend him the appearance of a man twice his age. When you're about 60, the penalty for remaining rockstar-thin is a cadaverous face and hollow cheeks. He's skinny and angular, with a hollow face, jaundiced skin, sunken black eyes and a flaxen mop. He was very handsome, except for the pale skin that was turning brown and the sunken cheeks and other visible hollow or gaunt areas. If the cows are under fed or fed an imbalance ration then they will look hollow, with a triangular appearance at this point. She is skeletally thin, with hollow, cadaverous eyes and cheeks. Then images of children with bloated bellies, hollow cheeks, and heavy-lidded eyes will begin to go around the world. Facial wasting, a condition identified by sunken cheeks, hollow eyes and temples is caused by a loss of fat tissue under the skin. The driver was 18 to 19 years old, 5ft 6ins tall, hairy with a slim build, dark eyes, a gaunt face and hollow cheeks. She looks as though she neither ate nor slept during the entire shoot, with her dark-circled eyes, gaunt frame, and hollow cheeks. They had hollow eyes and sunken cheeks, and they wailed horribly in the darkness. My cheeks were hollow, my eyes had sunk into my face and my skin was terrible. In a single day his stubbly cheeks had begun to look hollow, and the muscles of his shoulders and legs stood out in dehydrated splendor. His angular face, with its long, sloping, jaw line, narrow chin and hollow cheeks, suggests the fragility of china. They are generally in blue, green, white or occasionally amethyst glass, and are often cut with shallow, concave hollow diamonds. Her cheeks were sunken and hollow, her body almost frail-looking, her hair limp and sticking to her face. Synonyms sunken, deep-set, concave, depressed, dented, indented, caved in 1.2 (of a sound) echoing, as though made in or on an empty container. a hollow cough Example sentencesExamples The terrible music alternates between sounding hollow, tinny, and shrill. Hand claps, body slaps, foot stomps, and the hollow sounds of the boxes being hit built into complex and satisfying rhythmic structures. A few more hollow noises that sounded like metal on metal made him certain. Far above us, the grey clouds got sick of threatening and decided to act, and a hollow boom of thunder sounded. The sound is hollow and muffled throughout the film, and the bass has been cranked up to make up for the overall lack of punch. I dropped the pole and it clattered to the pier with a hollow thunk. Bake until biscuits are golden on top and bottom and sound hollow when tapped, about 10 minutes. The large wooden doors closed behind him automatically with a hollow boom, not unlike the sound of a tomb being shut. You should hear a hollow sound when the melon is thumped. The sound is hollow and tinny, and the dialogue is often quite difficult to understand. The final curtain closed on the valedictory sound effect off-stage - the hollow thud of an axe chopping down the cherry trees in the lost orchard. She turned as she heard hollow footsteps echo through the temple, and saw James approaching her door. But all that came forth was the hollow click of an empty gun. The cold, hollow sounds of their steps echoing behind them made the little hairs on the back of his neck rise. Apparently, there was a struggle going on; some muffled yelps were heard, and a few hollow thuds resounded in the now ominous silence. Without warning, a massive, hollow boom resounded from the ridges up near the front lines. A sound that is close to this is the hollow sound of a tuning fork. I heard a small hollow thud from behind me and a little laugh. It hit a tree with a hollow clunk and bounced back to land at his feet. It makes a dry rustling sound, and a hollow echo as the cans and harder litter roll away across the dirty tiles. She remembered the dark, cold cavern and the hollow echoes of her footsteps as she walked into its darkness. Synonyms dull, low, flat, toneless, expressionless 2Without significance. the result was a hollow victory Example sentencesExamples The game had to be played to prevent further riots, but the Juventus victory was hollow. Does not the claim of the government which claims to promote travel and tourism appear hollow to you? A deeper read, however, suggests something more complicated, a pattern of embarrassing defeats and hollow victories. Geoffrey, bless his heart, is over the top as Harry; his part in the film is unclear and a little hollow. Hey, a hollow victory is better than no victory at all, right? Even when I don't think about it, I feel so hollow and worthless. The victory in certain lights does seem indeed to be a hollow miracle. Parents fighting the closure of their children's junior school won a hollow victory at London's Appeal Court last night. For me it's just a hollow form of words, with no real content, much like ‘Have a nice day’. There is a call for peaceful direct action that could leave the hardliners with a certain but hollow victory when the election results come in. Albion scored a second to virtual silence, for it seemed a hollow victory. Everything becomes absurd and dull at the same time, and the film appears both amusing and hollow. If Colin wins his case, I feel it will be a hollow victory for him, whether or not he realizes this now. No wonder efforts during the past two years to change how public companies operate seem so hollow. Fielding women candidates can be a hollow victory if they are not resourced to campaign effectively and confidently. Such excuses sound pretty hollow right now, even to me. She went to far and my threat to kill her wasn't hollow, I just needed a way and Erik was the solution to this problem. At these, it is remarkably effective, but the whole business feels rather hollow. She got a standing ovation at the end, but it all must have felt pretty hollow. But even if you happen to be the big winner, your victory may prove hollow. Were we to have lost, we would have to start out again next January and what I would have to say to the lads would be a bit hollow - given that I am saying it for the last three years in a row. Synonyms meaningless, empty, valueless, worthless, useless, pyrrhic, futile, of no use, of no value, of no avail, fruitless, profitless, pointless, unavailing 2.1 Insincere. a hollow promise Example sentencesExamples There has never been a time when the cry for unlimited congressional power has rung so hollow. There are some interesting figures quoted in the article - figures that don't shock or surprise me anymore, but just provoke hollow laughter and indignation. The first item on that shopping list will trigger hollow laughter among the rest of the world's steel makers. A fervent protester since her early college days, this is a woman who believes in action and follow-through rather than hollow promises made on election campaigns. He is from all appearances, an utterly hollow man whose every action belies the religion he wears on his sleeve. And we should try to ignore the hollow laughter at that description from those who use it every day. Alex couldn't stop the hollow laugh that forced its way out of her. The promise of new jobs rings somewhat hollow to a community with an unemployment rate well below the national average. A click sounded, and a hollow laughter echoed through the room she was in. Are those words ringing a little hollow for you? Is Williams's redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? Those of us with our eye on the ball know that the promise of a technology-supported, Utopian future is a hollow one. We will not hand over our consciences in return for a hollow promise of safety… We cement our relationships with our barren love and hollow dialogues. The Forest Service's argument, however, sounded hollow to many wilderness advocates. "You're lying, " she replies, breaking into a hollow laugh. The England captain did his best to look on the bright side, which was understandable but felt rather hollow. So any promises of anonymity ring a little bit hollow to me. Looking towards next season all the claims that the new stadium is not affecting cash flow seem very hollow. In the face of his failure to do anything about the carnage of past months, his promise to preserve national unity has a somewhat hollow sound. It was a very hollow gesture. Synonyms insincere, hypocritical, feigned, pretended, artificial, false, dissembling, dissimulating, deceitful, sham, cynical, counterfeit, spurious, untrue, unsound, flimsy, two-faced, double-dealing nounˈhälōˈhɑloʊ 1A hole or depression in something. a hollow at the base of a large tree Example sentencesExamples They also will use an old woodpecker or other hole or even hollows in the earth beneath exposed tree roots. She fingered the single pearl that nestle in the hollow of her throat. They dug hollows in the ground, covered them over just as wrens do and lived in that hollow. For instance there were certain stones to be found in fields or graveyards with a hole or hollow which at times was full of water. European Starlings are cavity nesters, and nests are generally located in natural hollows, old woodpecker holes, birdhouses, or building eaves and crevices. I half - lifted, half-dragged it to the side of the road, to a grassy hollow at the base of a huge live oak. I pulled the last button through what I hoped was its corresponding hole just below the hollow of my neck, and for the first time looked down at my breakfast. They are cavity-nesters, finding a natural hollow in a tree, an old woodpecker hole, a hole in a building, or a man-made nest box. He pressed a warm kiss into the hollow at the base of her throat. The hollow in the stone was about 20 centimetres in diameter and about 30 centimetres deep. They would carry a block of ochre to the nearest waterhole or spring, mix ochre and water into a paste and shape it again into a block, with a slight hollow at the bottom. And once there, I leaned my back against a hollow in a boulder, not the smooth planks of a bench thoughtfully placed in the shade of twin live oaks. Fillers add volume under the surface of the skin to plump up creases, divots and hollows from the inside out. How convenient it was that all the prey species were excavating holes and hollows and leafy chambers, and stuffing them with helpless nestlings just when he needed them. One hand rests against the hollow at the base of his throat - is this an invitation to trust him? When the tide is out at Strandhill one can see clearly the indents and hollows in the sand, reminding us that extreme care needs to be taken when swimming there. Her cheekbones protrude from the top of her face, the hollows below seem to sink all the way to her teeth before climbing the gully of her jawbones. Gideon could see the blue hollows under her eyes and thin creases of worry around the red bow of her mouth. I have walked the beach with the dogs when the wind howled across the sand, obliterating our footprints and forming ribs and patterns in the hollows and over the dunes. From his groin to his knees, his skin was indented with hollows like large smallpox scars. Synonyms hole, pit, cavity, crater, trough, cave, cavern 1.1 A small valley. the house fell behind as they climbed out of the hollow Example sentencesExamples In the hollow of this tiny valley, lay a white public house. Directly to my left, a rectangular plantation almost ready for harvest stretches to the next hollow like a roll of teased Astroturf. Modest-looking little plants that nestle in the moist soils of swamps or mountain hollows, mosses fascinate biologists. Set in three-quarters of an acre, derelict Lambs Barton Stables nestle amid landscaped gardens in a hollow of land with sea views. The granite peaks and sylvan hollows in the Blue Ridge Mountains are the results of geological changes and metamorphosis over perhaps a billion year period of time. To the north, the mountains wind and smoothly melt into the Pre-Balkan region and the Danube plain; while to the south steep mountain slopes tower above a series of hollows and fields. This park, tucked away in the hills and hollows of central Kentucky, protects the longest cave system in the world, a five-level labyrinth with more than 365 miles of tunnels. In my home state, librarians used to ride horses into the remote hollows and valleys in the rural parts of pre-war Kentucky. Ahead were more hills, more little valleys, more slopes and hollows and knolls. An award-winning cabin in Monteagle is nestled in a Tennessee mountain hollow and projects from the hillside to overlook a mountain stream. Once a bustling coastal township it is now a sleepy hollow with a beautiful beach, a school, and a church. Nestled in a hollow at Hunters Point, right up against the bay, we found our goal. Nestling in a wooded hollow at the edge of the Queen's Balmoral estate on Scotland's Royal Deeside, the whitewashed mansion was bequeathed to Charles by the Queen Mother. And then there were those Yorkshire folk legends, lurking beneath a thin veneer of Christianity in the hollows and hills of Yorkshire and Scotland. Often swathed in cloud, otherwise fading into a purple haze flecked with white where winter snows remain in gullies and hollows, the highest point is Pic d' Anie. She watched this from her third-story bedroom in the Darville estate, and her gaze wandered over to the farm that nestled into the hollow. The famous Surprise View is a great hollow with valleys leading north and south and moorland roads climbing out. Cool, humid air after the warmth of the city, and patches of fog in the hollows; smells of car exhaust on the way out, and fishy smells once we got there. It was a quaint little place, nestled in a hollow in the hills, and smoke rose cozily out of the chimneys of the houses. A thaw finally set in but the snow remained in many hollows and mountainous areas right into the summer of that year. Synonyms valley, vale, dale verbˈhälōˈhɑloʊ [with object] 1Form by making a hole. a tunnel was hollowed out in a mountain range Example sentencesExamples He was being held in some sort of dungeon, which had been hollowed out of the ground. In the Middle Ages vineyards flourished on this bleak Castilian plateau and cellars were hollowed out of the limestone under the town. Gazing in the direction of his arm, he saw a small cave, hollowed into the mountain. Until the early years of this century the traditional Russian coffin was hollowed from a single piece of wood. Slowly, gradually, a tunnel, large enough for people to walk through, was hollowed out of the gigantic mound of earth. The earliest hives were hollowed out of tree trunks, and this practice still survives in some societies. Two floors were hollowed out of the hillside beneath the Research Station, so that the facility could withstand a direct hit from a German bomb. The room was circular and looked like it had been hollowed out from some giant tree. They were led into a large cave chamber that had been partially hollowed out and worked smooth. The teponaxtli was a long horizontal drum hollowed from a log and beautifully carved. Bells can be hollowed from wood or made from glass or ceramics, but most are cast or forged from metal. Each circular city had been hollowed out from the ground, and covered by a great, pink-tinted dome. Unlike modern harps, the soundbox would have be hollowed out from a single piece of wood and finished with a thin panel to ‘seal’ the sound box. It's about three feet long and was hollowed out naturally by termites, which is the way they are made. The eye, as it drifts across the cliff, is arrested by a frontage of columns, which invites us into a sanctuary hollowed from the stone. Synonyms gouge out, scoop out, dig out, cut out, excavate, channel 1.1 Make a depression in. Example sentencesExamples Once under the wilderness area, Revett aims to spend 30 years hollowing out an untouched patch of mountain, and extracting its riches. The concrete block has been hollowed out and is packed with enough plastic explosives to kill us At first he thought the task impossible, but then he saw a stone that had been hollowed out by dripping water. Pour in remainder of cake batter and smooth the top, hollowing it slightly. Jiman, meanwhile, was hollowing out a log for a new drum commissioned from Joshua. However, to hollow out the glacial boulders, made of Vermont granite, he used a high-intensity blowtorch. For instance, termites had begun hollowing out live trees instead of just dead ones. Its oversized cap can be sliced off, hollowed, and used for serving soup. The first canoes are thought to have been used by Carib Indians and native North Americans and were made by hollowing out large logs. Today in the UK, demand grows each year as more and more people realise that pumpkins aren't simply for hollowing out to make Hallowe'en decorations. The company also is working on a tool that's driven by a servo motor that will allow the tips to be hollowed out so coolant can flow right to the tip. They hollow out the side of a tree and dig down to form a nest. The rock is soft enough to be hollowed out, but it remains solid and waterproof. Thomas said the tree had a split trunk, part of which had been damaged in the first storm, and the second half hollowed by the second lightning strike. Yellow and green squash, called koosa, are hollowed out, stuffed with rice and ground lamb meat, and cooked in a tomato sauce. People make pottery without a wheel by hollowing out a ball of clay and molding it into the desired shape. Because the barrel's end is hollowed out, saving weight, the end is blunt rather than rounded. Some of the trees were completely destroyed while others were hollowed out. Above the waterfall, the snow - although solid and deep - had been hollowed out by running meltwater. We made the centrepiece by hollowing out a large pumpkin and stuffing it with dried leaves, twigs and branches. I opened the books up and found that they had both been hollowed out. The king of the bruschetta category was a little square of toast hollowed in the middle like a toad-in-the-hole and filled with egg, bits of truffle, and more melted Fontina cheese. Phrases beat someone hollow Defeat or surpass someone completely or thoroughly. Example sentencesExamples Given the standards of Indian movies, the splendid three-hour session will ensure that you beat the romance on the screen hollow! Kerala's Shiva Priya's dream run came to an end in the 63 kg division where Asian champion Aruna Mishra beat her hollow in the first round. I had the pleasure of beating him hollow at Pro Evolution Soccer 4. Team-Pakistan beat India hollow at the Kotla grounds. Irish landlords were bad enough in the past, but this new importation from England beats them hollow. Synonyms trounce, defeat utterly, beat, annihilate, drub, give a drubbing to, crush, rout, worst, overwhelm, outclass have hollow legs (or a hollow leg) informal Have the ability or capacity to consume an unusually large amount of food or drink. I'm usually hungry an hour after I leave—I just have hollow legs and should order more food he's got hollow legs, so plying him with drink doesn't work in the hollow of one's hand Entirely in one's power. great events lay in the hollow of his hand Origin Old English holh ‘cave’; obscurely related to hole. adj.1 phr.
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