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Glite Dictionary
to hole out

to hole out

1 7.0
To hit a golf ball into the hole to finish the play
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : meter la bola en el hoyo
  • By the time Sidney McMurdo had holed out at the tenth for a four, which gave him the match, we were alone except for the caddies.
  • strokes to hole out
  • holed out from a bunker

Examples

  • Look, you can hole out a wedge for a goddamn eagle.

    Tin Cup (1996)

  • He tied for 10th in the McGladrey Classic, where he holed out with an 8-iron for eagle on the 11th hole and closed with a 67.

    Blog text (12)

  • After carefully planning his shot, he finally managed to hole out on the 18th green.

  • Once she was on the green, she felt confident she could hole out in just a few strokes.

  • During the tournament, he celebrated when he holed out to complete the course.

Synonyms

to hole
vsto hole out
1 6.2

To sink the ball into the cup in golf

is identical in meaning but is the verb phrase form rather than the noun

Surface Forms

hole out infinitive
holed out past
holed out past participle
holing out present participle
holes out third person singular

Morphology

hole + out

The sense 'to hit the ball into the hole' is partly derivable from combining 'hole' (the target) with 'out' (a result/completion particle), so there is a clear compositional basis. However, the verb form is golf-specific and the contribution of 'out' to mean completing the hole is not fully predictable to a general B1 learner without exposure, so the expression is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Hole out comes from golf: picture the ball falling into the hole and then being 'out' of play. That's why hole out means 'to put the ball into the hole' or 'to finish a hole'.