cozy bolthole
- noun
- /ˈkoʊzi ˈboʊlˌhoʊl/
- US
- After a long week at work, she escapes to her cozy bolthole by the lake.
Examples
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They decorated their cozy bolthole with warm lights and soft blankets for winter.
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The author wrote his entire novel in a cozy bolthole nestled in the forest.
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I found a cozy bolthole in the mountains.
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This little cafe is my favorite cozy bolthole.
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After a long week at work, she escapes to her cozy bolthole by the lake.
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They decorated their cozy bolthole with warm lights and soft blankets for winter.
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The author wrote his entire novel in a cozy bolthole nestled in the forest.
Synonyms
A small quiet place where someone can rest alone
A small sheltered corner where you can sit or read
A small secret place to keep things safe or be alone
A private place to go to relax or hide from others
A small narrow space where a person can hide
A small comfortable room for relaxing in private
Antonyms
How Cozy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'a comfortable private retreat' is directly and compositionally derived from 'cozy' (comfortable, inviting) modifying 'bolthole' (a hiding-place or retreat). This adjective+noun pattern is a standard, non-idiomatic combination and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Cozy bolthole may come from the older idea of a bolt plus a hole, a small safe spot you could 'bolt' into. Imagine a tiny, private room where you close the door and relax, and that's why it means 'a comfortable, private place to escape'.