ˈman-hole
A hole or opening in a floor, pavement, boiler, sewer, etc., through which a person may pass to gain access to certain parts. Also, a recess in a wall, etc., used as a place of refuge, e.g. to avoid passing trains; a hole in a covered boat or canoe for the accommodation of a rower or paddler.
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §274 The center stone was made large enough to admit of an opening, from floor to floor, or Man-Hole, to be made through it. 1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Eng. 120 In the crown of the boiler is a large circular opening, called a man hole. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 318/1 To make apertures or man-holes..to enable persons..to enter and cleanse the sewers. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. (1856) 477 The pah, or man-hole, as we would term it, is very nearly in the centre [of the kayak]. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 61 They are sent down the main hatchway by a strop and toggle in the man-hole. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Man-hole, Corn. The hole in a sollar through which men pass upon the ladder or from one ladder to the next. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 119 Each rower sits in a manhole [of a ‘decked’ boat]. 1893 Law Times XCV. 204/2 His horse's foot struck the cover of a manhole in the middle of the road, and it fell. |
| attrib. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 316 The man⁓hole door. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 55/2 Patent Ventilating Man-hole Cover for Sewers. 1900 Engineering Mag. xix. 742/2 Manhole plates..in the shape of ovals. |