hole up

verb

To go into a hole, to shelter in a hole.

“The guerrillas holed up in a small cave.”

Similar
hibernate
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Meanings

verbhole up (third-person singular simple present holes up, present participle holing up, simple past and past participle holed up)

present singular third person holes up · participle present holing up · participle past holed up · past holed up

  1. intransitiveTo go into a hole, to shelter in a hole.

    In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan bears enter winter dens in October; in the South, later; even in Florida bears “hole up” during the coldest weather.

    1998, John Whitaker, William Hamilton, Mammals of the Eastern United States, page 424
  2. intransitiveTo hide.

    The guerrillas holed up in a small cave.

    1 more example

    The battle ended a two-day siege of an apartment block, where the suspects were holed up.

    2005, BBC News, Thursday, 27 January, 2005, 18:50 GMThttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4211625.stm

Synonyms & antonyms

verbsleep during winter

Similar
hibernate
Broader
sleepkipslumber
Also see
hibernatehide

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From hole + up. Attested from the 19th century.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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