loophole
English · Thesaurus
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loophole
- /ˈluːphəʊl/ UK
- /ˈluphoʊl/ US
Rhymes with -uːphəʊl
Where it comes from
From Middle English loupe (“opening in a wall”) + hole, from a Germanic source. By surface analysis, loop + hole. Compare Medieval Latin loupa, lobia and Middle Dutch lupen (“to watch”).
noun loopholes · loop hole
-
A slit in a castle wall; today, any similar window for shooting a ranged weapon or letting in light.
[…] and having a fair loophole, as it were, from a broken hole in the tree, he took a sure aim, without being seen, waiting till they were within about thirty yards of the tree, so that he could not miss.
Similar: arrowslit, arrow slit, arrow-hole, balistraria, barbican
- A method of escape, especially an ambiguity or exception in a rule or law that can be exploited in order to avoid its effect. Coupling the poor girl's intelligence with my previous knowledge, and the result of our good friend's inquiries on the spot, I left him no loophole of escape, and laid bare the whole villany which by these lights became plain as day.
verb loopholes · loopholing · loopholed · loop hole
- To prepare a building for defense by preparing slits or holes through which to fire on attackers The lower windows were barricaded, and the whole building loopholed for musketry fire.
- To exploit (a law, etc.) by means of loopholes. Abroad they had developed loopholing the law into an art; in Israel they jettisoned loopholing for ignoring the law wherever possible. Obeying laws was for naive fools.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: backdoor, hole, gat, lagoon, gulf, trap, leakage, rift, chink, faulting, breech, flaw, breach, crack, breccia, divide
Translations
Every language
noun slit in a castle wall
| Español | aspillera, ballestera, saetera, saetía, barbacana, tronera |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 銃眼 jūgan |
| 中文 | 槍眼 /枪眼 qiāngyǎn |
| Português | seteira |
| Français | meurtrière |
| Deutsch | Schießscharte |
| Italiano | feritoia |
| Ελληνικά | πολεμίστρα polemístra |
| Русский | амбразу́ра ambrazúra, бойни́ца bojníca |
noun method of escape
| Español | escapatoria, recoveco, resquicio, fisura, laguna, cucha |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 抜け道 nukemichi |
| 中文 | 漏洞 lòudòng |
| Português | brecha |
| Français | échappatoire, brèche |
| Deutsch | Ausflucht, Hintertürchen, Schlupfloch |
| Italiano | scappatoia, cavillo, pretesto, sottigliezza, sofisma, paralogismo |
| Русский | лазе́йка lazéjka, увёртка uvjórtka |
| עברית | פרצה pirtsa |
Talk about this word "loophole." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/loophole. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. loophole. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/loophole "loophole." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/loophole.Cite this
@misc{loophole_2026,
title = {loophole},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/loophole},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
