foothole

plural footholes · alternative foot hole

1. ball gamesA hole in a cricket pitch made by the bowler's foot during the runup.

   "The wicket didn't play too bad today. Day five is going to be the biggest worry. The footholes will get bigger as the day goes on."

   2013, Peter Siddle, BBC Sport

   1 more example

   The 24-year-old, who made three one-day appearances against Australia last summer, injured his ankle on Wednesday and further damaged it yesterday when he slipped in the footholes.

   2006, Mike Averis, The Guardian

2. businessA hole into which the foot can be wedged to aid in climbing; a foothold.
3. figurativelyA foothold.
4. A deep footprint; a hole made by a foot.

   They floundered into deep footholes at every step.

   1945, Sara Katherine Casey Maynard, Scott and His Men, page 50

   4 more examples

   Wherever there were tracks of children, sleds, large dogs, other couples, or a solitary walker with long, steady paces, these footholes had filled with a veneer of ice.

   1952, Ben Maddow, Forty-four Gravel Street, page 99

   The trees of the region were fearsomely marked with large footholes scratched by a giant feline animal, and once they saw at a distance a striped creature like a hyena with the markings of a tiger.

   1976, Christina Stead, Seven Poor Men of Sydney, page 300

   With each step her leg sunk up to the knee. When she pulled her boots back out again she tinged her own footholes with red-brown mud, like the edging of blood around a punctured bandage.

   2007, Owen Sheers, Resistance, page 119

   Only two footholes are needed due to the wolf's narrow gait, as the hind foot oversteps the front paw print. (Courtesy Oliver Matla) .

   2012, Toni Shelbourne, The truth about wolves and dogs, page 20