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Pothole vs Subsidence - What's the difference?

pothole | subsidence |

As nouns the difference between pothole and subsidence

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 or pothole can be (archaeology) a pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure hunters or vandals while subsidence is the process of becoming less active or severe.

pothole

English

Etymology 1

c 1826, from (etyl) + (hole)

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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.
    • Synonyms
    * (large pit in the bed of a stream) giant kettle
    Derived terms
    * potholing

    See also

    * sinkhole

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaeology) A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure hunters or vandals.

    • Anagrams

    * English words with consonant pseudo-digraphs

    subsidence

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia subsidence)
  • The process of becoming less active or severe
  • * Bishop Warburton
    • The subdual or subsidence of the more violent passions.
  • A sinking of something to a lower level, especially of part of the surface of the Earth due to underground excavation or seismic activity or groundwater depletion

    • Related terms

    * subside