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Glite Dictionary
to fill the pothole

to fill the pothole

2.6
To put material into a hole in the road to make it level
  • phrasal verb
: rellenar el bache
  • After the heavy rain, the repair crew had to fill the pothole that had formed in the main road.

I think we have defends the shores, fills the potholes and otherwise gets out of the way.

Examples

  • Yes, we look to governments to pave the roads and fill the potholes (which they have trouble doing where I live), but Holmes' glibness is exactly what we do not need as we approach a fiscal cliff.

    Blog text (15)

  • To prevent accidents, it's crucial for the maintenance team to fill the pothole before the winter season.

  • I think we have defends the shores, fills the potholes and otherwise gets out of the way.

    ReasonTV

  • The city workers were scheduled to fill the pothole on Maple Street to ensure safer driving conditions.

Synonyms

to patch
vsto fill the pothole
151 2.5

To repair a hole or damaged area by adding a piece of material

repairs a road depression by packing material to level the surface
backfill
vsto fill the pothole
  • Specialized
1 3.9

Material used to fill a hole or trench after work is done

is the repair action for road depressions rather than material used after excavation
to infill
vsto fill the pothole
  • Specialized
1 5.6

To fill a space with material or build on empty land between buildings in a city

is limited to road depressions rather than general gaps or development

Antonyms

to neglect
256 3.8

Fail to care for someone or something you should look after

How Smooth

to resurface
4 3.9
to fill the pothole
2.6
to patch
151 2.5

Surface Forms

fill the pothole infinitive
filled the pothole past
filled the pothole past participle
filling the pothole present participle
fills the pothole third person singular

Morphology

fill + the + pothole

The meaning 'to repair a depression or hole in a road surface by adding suitable material' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'fill' (to cause something to become full by adding contents) with 'pothole' (a depression in a road). This is a literal verb + object construction that follows normal compositional patterns and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand it.

Etymology

Fill the pothole comes from the simple image of road workers pouring hot material into a pothole to fill it and then pressing it flat. So, to 'fill the pothole' today means 'to repair a hole in a road'.