Pothole vs Loophole - What's the difference?
pothole | loophole |
A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.
A pit formed in the bed of a turbulent stream.
* The earliest ideas on the creation of potholes''' are that they were associated with "moulins de glacier" (glacier mills) formed where surface streams on glaciers and ice sheets fall into holes in the ice. Water entering these surficial holes was believed to impact on the bedrock beneath creating a large '''pothole'''. The "Moulin Hypothesis", first suggested in 1874, continued to be accepted by many authors until the 1950s. However, commencing in the 1930s, other authors have suggested dissatisfaction with the moulin hypothesis, largely on the grounds that it failed to explain how ice could remain stable long enough for the "giant" '''potholes''' to form and why many '''potholes (like those at Rockwood) were present in large numbers. Grand River Conservation Authority (Canada) Newsletter of May-June 2002.
(geology) A vertical cave system, often found in limestone.
(archaeology) A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure hunters or vandals.
A method of escape, especially an ambiguity or exception in a rule that can be exploited in order to avoid its effect.
* 1839, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist :
* 2002, Two Weeks Notice (movie):
A slit in a castle wall. Later: any similar window for shooting a weapon or letting in light.
* 1719 , Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe :
* 1809 , Maria Edgeworth, The Absentee :
* 1949 , George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four , page 25:
(military) To prepare a building for defense by preparing slits or holes through which to fire on attackers
* {{quote-book, year=1896, author=Arthur Conan Doyle, title=The Exploits Of Brigadier Gerard, chapter=, edition=
, passage=The lower windows were barricaded, and the whole building loopholed for musketry fire. }}
* {{quote-book, year=1907, author=A. E. W. Mason, title=The Broken Road, chapter=, edition=
, passage=The doors were barricaded, the shutters closed upon the windows and loopholed , and provisions were brought in from the outhouses. }}
* {{quote-book, year=1915, author=W. H. L. Watson, title=Adventures of a Despatch Rider, chapter=, edition=
, passage=The Germans were loopholing it for defence. }}
English words with consonant pseudo-digraphs
As nouns the difference between pothole and loophole
is that pothole is a shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic while loophole is a method of escape, especially an ambiguity or exception in a rule that can be exploited in order to avoid its effect.As a verb loophole is
to prepare a building for defense by preparing slits or holes through which to fire on attackers.pothole
English
Etymology 1
c 1826, from (etyl) + (hole)Noun
(en noun)Synonyms
* (large pit in the bed of a stream) giant kettleDerived terms
* potholingSee also
* sinkholeEtymology 2
Noun
(en noun)Anagrams
* English words with consonant pseudo-digraphsloophole
English
Noun
(en noun)- I left him no loophole of escape, and laid bare the whole villainy which by these lights became plain as day.
- You have a contract that says you will work until Island Towers is finalized, which I interpret as completion of construction, or I can stop you working elsewhere. And there's no loopholes , because you drafted it and you're the best.
- ... and having a fair loophole , as it were, from a broken hole in the tree, he took a sure aim, without being seen, waiting till they were within about thirty yards of the tree, so that he could not miss.
- There was a loophole in this wall, to let the light in, just at the height of a person's head, who was sitting near the chimney.
- The sun had shifted round, and the myriad windows of the Ministry of Truth, with the light no longer shining on them, looked grim as the loophole s of a fortress.
Verb
(loophol)citation
citation
citation