▪ I. holl, a. Obs. or dial.
(həʊl)
Forms: 1–5 hol (infl. hole), 4–9 holl, (5 holle, dial. 5–9 hole, 9 howl(e): see also howe a. Sc.
[OE. hol hollow = OFris., OS., OHG. (MLG., MDu., Du., MHG.) hol (Ger. hohl), ON. holr (Sw. hol, Da. huul) hollow, concave; cf. Goth. hulundi cave, ushulôn to hollow out; OTeut. stem *hulo-, pre-Teut. *kulo-; perh. related to helan to cover, hele v.1; or with suffixal -l, from root *ku-, *kaw-, of L. cavus hollow; cf. Gr. κύαρ hole, orifice. As shown under hole n. (q.v.), OE. hol had o short, retained in ME., in which the l was normally doubled, while in hōle, which represents the inflected cases, the o was lengthened. Subsequently, short o before ll has also been lengthened (cf. boll, roll, poll), and in Sc. has become -ow(e, so that holl is in Sc. how, howe.]
1. Hollow, concave; having a void space within; empty.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 306 Ðas wyrte..on middan hol. Ibid. 316 Any hy beoð innan hole. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, VII Sleperis 102 In a hol cowe [= cove] vndir a stane. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) ix. 35 Þai failed in þaire hertes and become holle within. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 242/2 Hol, as pypys, or percyd thyngys [v.rr. hole, hollowe], cavus. 1483 Cath. Angl. 188/1 Holle, cavus natura, concauus arte, cauatus vtroque intelligitur, inanis. a 1500 Deguileville's Pilgr. 84 b (MS. St. John's, Camb.) in Cath. Angl. 188 note, Many a willowe is..hol with-in and fulle of wormys. 1513 Douglas æneis v. ii. 85 Of the holl grave law A gret eddir slydand gan furth thraw. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Holl, adj. hollow. 1847–78 Halliwell, Hole..(5) Hollow; deep; concave. North. Metaphorically, hungry, cheerless, or comfortless. 1874 Waugh Jannock iv. 30 (Lanc. Gloss.) ‘He must be varra howle when he's hungry’... ‘Howle!’ said Adam, ‘why he'll be like a two-legged drum, about t'middle o' t' forenoon’. |
2. Deeply excavated or depressed, as a valley or ditch; lying in a hollow.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxxiii. 217 ᵹif se weobud ufan hol nære. a 1000 Charter of æthelred in Kemble Cod. Dipl. V. 124 On ðone holan weᵹ. a 1000 Martyrol. 1 On anum holum stanscræfe. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 78 He saw the brayis hye standand, The vattir holl throu slike rynand. Ibid. viii. 176 Sa holl & hye the dykis war. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 116 (Douce) Withe eighen holked ful holle [rimes cholle, polle]. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 37 Hole, hollow, deep: an hole dish, opposed to shallow. 1828 Craven Dial. s.v. Howl, A howl dish, opposed to shallow. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Holl, Holl time or Hollow time. ‘The holl of winter’, the depth of winter. |
† 3. In specific uses: holbasin, a deep basin; holcress (only OE. hol cerse), Field Gentian; holrush (holrysche), a bulrush; holtile, a concave tile such as those used for the ridges of a roof; holleway, hollow way, an excavated lane; holwork, the making of ‘holtiles’; concr. a quantity of such tiles. Also holleke.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 34 Wiþ wenne on eaᵹon, ᵹenim þa holan cersan. 1323 in Rogers Agric. & Prices II. 436 Holwork. 1362 Ibid. 438 Holtiles. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 244/2 Holrysche, or bulrysche [v.rr. hool ryschyn, holryschyne], papirus. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 23, I wille she haue..the grettere hol basyn of ij. smale basynes. 1471 Ibid. 242, j peluem laton voc' an holbasyn, j peluem laton voc' a flatbasyn. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 798/20 Hic traco, a hollewey. |
▪ II. holl, n. Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 1 hol, 1–9 holl, (5 holle, houle, 5–9 howle, 9 dial. houl, howl).
[OE. hol, late OE. and ME. holl, neuter of prec. adj. used subst.; retained chiefly in the north (pronounced (həʊl, hɔʊl); in Sc., holl has regularly become how, howe n.]
1. A hollow place; a cave, den; a hole.
| c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 187/1 Lustra, wilddeora holl and denn. c 1205 Lay. 20864 [Þe fox] i þan holle wendeð. c 1352 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 88 In holl gan thai it hide. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1362 Mony wyues..Hyd hom in houles and hyrnys aboute. Ibid. 11991 He..Hid hir in a howle vnder a hegh towre. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 1022 With a knyff he stekit him to dede; In a dyrk holl kest him doun in that sted. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxii. 47 All the hollis wes stoppit hard. c 1600 Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. (1728) 40 A holl or deepe vaute in the grounde, whereinto the sea floweth at high water. |
b. A surface hollow, excavation, or deep depression in the ground; a ditch.
| 1701 MS. relating to Suffolk Manors, One little piece of ground extending beyond the holl of him the s{supd}. S.H. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Holl, a ditch, particularly a dry one. 1825 Brockett, Howl, a hollow or low place. ‘Wherever there's a hill, there's sure to be a howl.’ 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Holl, a deep hollow valley. 1888 Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch I. vi. 96 To be kicked through every holl on the place. |
† 2. The hold of a ship. Cf. hole n. 6. Obs.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 122 Bathe schip maistir, and the ster man also, In the holl, but baid, he gert thaim go. Ibid. x. 836 Out off the holl thai tuk skynnys gud speid. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 804/43 Hec carina, a holle. Ibid. 805/30 Hoc columbar, the holle of the schyp. c 1490 Promp. Parv. 243/1 (Pynson & MS. K) Holle [c 1440 hoole of a schyppe], carina. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 458 Foul brow in holl thow preposit for to pas. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 33 When you let anything downe into the Howle, lowering it by degrees, they say, Amaine. |
3. The middle or depth (of winter, night). north.
| c 1375 Barbour Troy-bk. ii. 1695 In-to þe holl of wyntir richt. 1828 Craven Dial., Hole, Houl, middle. ‘T' hole o' winter’. Sc. how, as ‘how o' the nicht’, midnight. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Holl,..the depth of winter; sometimes applied also to the ‘dead time of night’. |
▪ III. holl
obs. form of hull, whole.