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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

holey en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈhəʊli/ (UK) without wholly-holy split
  • /ˈhəʊl.li/ UK, wholly-holy split
  • [ˈhɒʊli] UK, wholly-holy split
  • /ˈhoʊli/ (US)
  • [ˈhɒʊɫ.li] UK, wholly-holy split
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English holy, holi, holly, holli (“holey, spongy, hollow”); equivalent to hole + -y. The e was inserted in Modern English to distinguish the word from holy (“hallowed, sacred”).

Meanings

  1. Having, or being full of, holes.
    • Fred loved holey Dutch cheese.
    • Steven also acknowledged that his presentation of self—wild locs, nerd glasses, and holey hipster jeans for our first interview—encourages whites to speak to him. 2014, Zandria F. Robinson, chapter 3, in This Ain't Chicago: Race, Class, and Regional Identity in the Post-Soul South, University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 111:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
holier Degree=Cmp lexicographic
holiest Degree=Sup lexicographic

Deriveds

holeyness · holey dollar

Translations (18)

cs děravý (containing holes) · vo hogik (containing holes) · io truala (containing holes) · eo trua (containing holes) · uk дірявий (containing holes) · es ojoso (containing holes) · mi pihangarua (containing holes) · uk дірява (containing holes) · ru дыря́вый (containing holes) · ba тишек (containing holes) · mi watawata (containing holes) · bg дупчест (containing holes) · uk діряве (containing holes) · de löchrig (containing holes) · fr troué (containing holes) · izh uutukas (containing holes) · mi puhangarua (containing holes) · pl dziurawy (containing holes)