hole in one
9
3.3
- noun
- /hoʊl ɪn wʌn/
:
hoyo en uno
- I'll probably never get a hole in one, especially one with so much on the line (not a betting man)... but it was a round of golf.
- hit a hole in one
- get a hole in one
- make a hole in one
Examples
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Scoring a hole in one is a rare achievement that every golfer dreams of.
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On the seventh hole, by pure fluke, I hit a hole in one.
Academic text (1991) -
I made a hole in one now.
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Yeah, if you get a hole in one, do you come on.
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My first hole in one.
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At the '72 Open, Arnold Palmer made a hole in one.
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And six days before the tournament, Ty hit his first hole in one!
Blog text (15) -
I always seem to remember the holes where I score a hole-in-one.
Blog text (17) -
And this guy who's not a very good golfer hit the only hole in one of his life.
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YES, A HOLE IN ONE!
Synonyms
3
2.7
A golf shot that puts the ball in the hole from the tee in one hit
3
4.9
To score a point with one action in sports like tennis
How Bad
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a shot that lands the ball in the hole with a single stroke' is directly and compositionally built from 'hole' (the cup), 'in' (inside), and 'one' (single), so a learner who knows the words and basic golf context can infer it. This construction is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'hoyo en uno', French 'trou en un') and follows straightforward semantic composition, making it transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Hole in one comes from golf: it describes getting the ball into the hole with a single hit, with one meaning 'one stroke'. Picture the ball falling into the hole on your first try — that's why the phrase means a rare, perfect shot.