dry hole

noun

A hole drilled into the ground for oil or gas exploration which fails to yield enough oil or gas to justify the establishment of a well.

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Meanings

noundry hole (plural dry holes)

plural dry holes

  1. engineeringA hole drilled into the ground for oil or gas exploration which fails to yield enough oil or gas to justify the establishment of a well.
  2. figurativelySomething that brings no success or profit; a dead loss.

    Ultrasound as a treatment for degenerative arthritis was in its infancy. It might eventually turn out to be as effective as the Salk vaccine, or as bogus as the science of phrenology. Either way, it didn't make sense right now. The chances were a thousand to one that it was a dry hole.

    1991, Stephen King, Needful Things
Cite this entry
APA

dry hole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20hole

MLA

“dry hole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20hole. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dry hole,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20hole.

Source: dry hole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.