pothole
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
pothole¹
Where it comes from
From dialectal pot (“pit, hollow, cavity”) + hole. The "cave" senses, attested since at least 1809 (as pot-hole), may be from Middle English pot, potte (“a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging”), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to English pit, pote, or pot. Compare Scots pott, patt (“a pit dug in the ground; coalpit”).
noun potholes
- A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion, weather or traffic. I was so tired that potholes, fumes and noise aside, I slept regardless, my head rag-dolling from side to side.
-
A pit formed in the bed of a turbulent stream.
2002, May-June, Grand River Conservation Authority (Canada) Newsletter
The earliest ideas on the creation of potholes are that they were associated with "moulins de glacier" (glacier mills) formed where surface streams on glaciers and ice sheets fall into holes in the ice. Water entering these surfi
Similar: giant kettle
- A vertical cave system, often found in limestone.
- A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure-hunters or vandals.
- A shallow hole dug for the purpose of prospecting for opal or gold.
- A hyperlink with text displayed on a page that is different from the title of the page to which the text links; a piped link.
pothole²
Where it comes from
From pot + hole. Attested since at least 1811 (also as pot-hole), possibly continuing Middle English *pothol (attested in the plural, potholys).
noun potholes
- A hole or recess on the top of a stove into which a pot may be placed. Stoves with two or more potholes The normal single-pot stove in which the pot sits on top, rather than being sunk into the pothole, has a major limitation.
Translations
Every language
noun a hole in a road
| Español | bache, hoyanco, poceta |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 甌穴 |
| 中文 | 坑洞 kēngdòng, 甌穴 /瓯穴 ōuxué |
| Português | buraco (na estrada) |
| Français | nid de poule, fondrière |
| Deutsch | Schlagloch |
| Italiano | buca |
| Ελληνικά | λακκούβα lakkoúva |
| Română | hârtop, hârtoapă |
| Русский | вы́боина výboina, ры́твина rýtvina, уха́б uxáb, я́ма jáma |
| Tiếng Việt | ổ gà, ổ voi |
noun pit in the bed of a stream
| Italiano | fosso, avvallamento, depressione, affossamento |
|---|
noun hole in a burial mound resulting from unauthorized excavators
| Italiano | scavo |
|---|
Talk about this word "pothole." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pothole. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pothole. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pothole "pothole." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pothole.Cite this
@misc{pothole_2026,
title = {pothole},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pothole},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
