HOLLOW

hollow

(adjective) lacking in substance or character; “a hollow person”

empty, hollow, vacuous

(adjective) devoid of significance or force; “empty promises”; “a hollow victory”; “vacuous comments”

hollow

(adjective) as if echoing in a hollow space; “the hollow sound of footsteps in the empty ballroom”

hollow

(adjective) not solid; having a space or gap or cavity; “a hollow wall”; “a hollow tree”; “hollow cheeks”; “his face became gaunter and more hollow with each year”

hole, hollow

(noun) a depression hollowed out of solid matter

hollow, holler

(noun) a small valley between mountains; “he built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Appalachians”

hollow

(noun) a cavity or space in something; “hunger had caused the hollows in their cheeks”

hollow, hollow out, core out

(verb) remove the interior of; “hollow out a tree trunk”

excavate, dig, hollow

(verb) remove the inner part or the core of; “the mining company wants to excavate the hillside”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

hollow (plural hollows)

A small valley between mountains.

A sunken area or unfilled space in something solid; a cavity, natural or artificial.

(US) A sunken area.

(figuratively) A feeling of emptiness.

An exercise in which one lies on one's back with legs and head in the air and arms in the air extended above the head ()

Verb

hollow (third-person singular simple present hollows, present participle hollowing, simple past and past participle hollowed)

(transitive) to make a hole in something; to excavate

Etymology 2

Adjective

hollow (comparative hollower, superlative hollowest)

(of something solid) Having an empty space or cavity inside.

(of a sound) Distant, eerie; echoing, reverberating, as if in a hollow space; dull, muffled; often low-pitched.

(figuratively) Without substance; having no real or significant worth; meaningless.

(figuratively) Insincere, devoid of validity; specious.

Concave; gaunt; sunken.

(gymnastics) Pertaining to hollow body position

Adverb

hollow (not comparable)

(colloquial) Completely, as part of the phrase beat hollow or beat all hollow.

Etymology 3

Compare holler.

Verb

hollow (third-person singular simple present hollows, present participle hollowing, simple past and past participle hollowed)

To call or urge by shouting; to hollo.

Interjection

hollow

Alternative form of hollo

Source: Wiktionary

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Hol"low, a. Etym: [OE. holow, holgh, holf, AS. holh a hollow, hole. Cf. Hole.]

1. Having an empty space or cavity, natural or artificial, within a solid substance; not solid; excavated in the interior; as, a hollow tree; a hollow sphere. Hollow with boards shalt thou make it. Ex. xxvii. 8..

2. Depressed; concave; gaunt; sunken. With hollow eye and wrinkled brow. Shak.

3. Reverberated from a cavity, or resembling such a sound; deep; muffled; as, a hollow roar. Dryden.

4. Not sincere or faithful; false; deceitful; not sound; as, a hollow heart; a hollow friend. Milton. Hollow newel (Arch.), an opening in the center of a winding staircase in place of a newel post, the stairs being supported by the wall; an open newel; also, the stringpiece or rail winding around the well of such a staircase.

– Hollow quoin (Engin.), a pier of stone or brick made behind the lock gates of a canal, and containing a hollow or recess to receive the ends of the gates.

– Hollow root. (Bot.) See Moschatel.

– Hollow square. See Square.

– Hollow ware, hollow vessels; -- a trade name for cast-iron kitchen utensils, earthenware, etc.

Syn.- Concave; sunken; low; vacant; empty; void; false; faithless; deceitful; treacherous.

Hol"low, n.

1. A cavity, natural or artificial; an unfilled space within anything; a hole, a cavern; an excavation; as the hollow of the hand or of a tree.

2. A low spot surrounded by elevations; a depressed part of a surface; a concavity; a channel. Forests grew Upon the barren hollows. Prior. I hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood. Tennyson.

Hol"low, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hollowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Hollowing.]

Definition: To make hollow, as by digging, cutting, or engraving; to excavate. "Trees rudely hollowed." Dryden.

Hol"low, adv.

Definition: Wholly; completely; utterly; -- chiefly after the verb to beat, and often with all; as, this story beats the other all hollow. See All, adv. [Collog.] The more civilized so-called Caucasian races have beaten the Turks hollow in the struggle for existence. Darwin.

Hol*low", interj. Etym: [See Hollo.]

Definition: Hollo.

Hol"low, v. i.

Definition: To shout; to hollo. Whisperings and hollowings are alike to a deaf ear. Fuller.

Hol"low, v. t.

Definition: To urge or call by shouting. He has hollowed the hounds. Sir W. Scott.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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