glory hole
noun
1 informal An untidy room or cupboard used for storage.The delicatessen on Union Street is a glory hole of delicious deli fare, while the city's Victorian shopping arcade is one of the very few traditional arcades left in the country....
- He froze - waist wedged in the hole, his lower half still in Jeeson's glory hole, his top half in the empty cellar beside it.
- In reality, the glory-hole was what they called the basement-like room directly underneath the organ, where they kept the furnace that heated the church, and where all kinds of stuff was stored.
2North American An open quarry.Following the initial excavation of the glory-hole area, an excavator was lowered into one glory hole and began digging out the material below the roof and stockpiling it at the base....
- The two southernmost glory holes are large vertical features on the landscape and appear to be stopes opened to the surface.
- He sank his entire fortune into the mine in an unsuccessful attempt at finding another glory hole.
3A small furnace used to keep glass malleable so that it can be worked.My favourite term is the glory hole, a furnace you stick your punty into between gathers to keep the work sufficiently hot and soft....
- It is possible to blow glass bigger than the glory hole size, but only if it is spun out to a platter or bowl after the last reheat.
- There is nothing in the world like standing in front of a glory hole, balancing a pipe loaded with glass and feeling the heat.
4US informal A hole in a wall through which fellatio or masturbation is conducted incognito between male homosexuals.
Origin
Early 19th century: of unknown origin.