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knothole

knothole

3 8.1
A small hole in a wooden board where a branch joined the tree
  • noun
  • /ˈnɑːtˌhoʊl/
: nudo
  • The carpenter pointed out the knothole in the timber as a sign of poor quality.
  • knothole in a fence

Examples

  • You'll notice that a lot of the posts have little knotholes, stuff like that.

  • One of them poked its head through a knothole.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • I found all of these in the knothole of that old tree at different times.

  • The imperfection was round and small, no bigger than a knothole in a fence.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Jeff lies on his belly, peering through a knothole.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • But she liked this one because the bench had a knothole, and she looked through it and saw a cat's-eye marble in the grass underneath.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • There he sat, resting his weary bones as the icy wind howled through the knothole.

  • I noticed a small bird peeking through the knothole in the wooden fence.

  • As I examined the old door, I realized it had a knothole that let in drafts.

Synonyms

hole
vsknothole
∞ 1.0

An opening in something, often made by people or nature

is the specific case where a wood piece falls out to make the gap
pinhole
vsknothole
6 4.3

A very small hole made by a pin

is generally larger and comes from a wood piece falling out
wormhole
vsknothole
5 5.4

A small hole in wood or soil made by a worm

is produced when part of the wood drops out, not by creatures
nail hole
vsknothole
1 2.3

A small hole left in wood or a wall after you remove a nail

is formed when a wood piece falls out leaving a natural gap
pithole
vsknothole
9.8

A hole that forms when wood decays or people dig the ground

is caused by a wood piece dropping out rather than by decay

How Big

gaping
39 3.4
hole
∞ 1.0
knothole
3 8.1
pinhole
6 4.3

Surface Forms

knothole singular
knotholes plural

Morphology

knothole = knot + hole (transparent) = knot + hole

A direct compound of two concrete nouns whose combined meaning ('a hole associated with a knot') is literal and easily inferable by learners.

Etymology

Knothole is simply the two words knot and hole put together. A knot is 'a hard round part of wood where a branch grew', so a knothole is the hole left when that knot falls out, which is why birds can nest in it or people can peek through it.