sinkhole

S1I1N1K5H4O1L1E1
US/ˈsɪŋkˌhoʊl/

noun

A hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage.

Meanings

nounsinkhole (plural sinkholes)

plural sinkholes · alternative sink hole · alternative sink-hole

  1. geographyA hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage.

    Several people had to be rescued after two vehicles fell into this sinkhole in Chatsworth on January 10.

    2023 January 16, “California’s flooding, in pictures”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2023
    1 more example

    A sinkhole suddenly opened up beneath the track of a heavy freight route in the eastern United States. Golfers playing the 13th hole at Hartford, Connecticut, had a new obstacle to tackle: a section of track suspended in mid-air after heavy rainfall in the aftermath of Storm Ida.

    2021 September 22, “Network News: Sinking feeling on unlucky 13th”, in RAIL, number 940, page 18

    Synonyms: cenote, doline, dolina, shakehole, sink, swallet, swallow hole

  2. A depressed area in which waste or drainage collects.
  3. pinballA hole in the playfield that rewards the player when the ball is guided into it.

    Pro Pinball is as authentic as pinball has ever been on the PC. It's all here, from the ramps, bumpers and sinkholes to the satisfying "clack" when you make the high-score list.

    1997, Windows magazine, volume 8, numbers 1-3
  4. InternetA domain name server that has been configured to hand out non-routeable addresses for all domains, so that every computer that uses it will fail to get access to the real website.
  5. computer securityAn attack which redirects requests, whether network or memory accesses, to a new location defined by the attacker.
verbsinkhole (third-person singular simple present sinkholes, present participle sinkholing, simple past and past participle sinkholed)

present singular third person sinkholes · participle present sinkholing · participle past sinkholed · past sinkholed · alternative sink hole · alternative sink-hole

  1. InternettransitiveTo configure as a sinkhole (domain name server that gives non-routeable addresses).

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage.

More synonyms by meaning

nouna depression in the ground communicating with a subterranean passage (especially in limestone) and formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof

Broader
natural depressiondepression

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishsinkehole
  2. Englishsinkhole

From Middle English sinkehole, sinkeholl, equivalent to sink + hole.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بَالُوعَة, بَلَّاعَة
  • بَالُوعَة (bālūʕa)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • بَلَّاعَة (ballāʕa)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • بَلُّوعَة (ballūʕa)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • بَالُوعَة (bālūʕa)depressed area in which water collects
  • بَلَّاعَة (ballāʕa)depressed area in which water collects
Catalan dolina, bòfia
  • dolinageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • bòfiageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • desguàsdepressed area in which water collects
  • eixidiudepressed area in which water collects
  • desaigüedepressed area in which water collects
Chinese Mandarin 天坑, 沉洞
  • 天坑 (tiānkēng)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • 沉洞 (chéndòng)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • 落水洞geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • 溶蝕漏斗 /溶蚀漏斗geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • 污水池 (wūshuǐchí)depressed area in which water collects
  • 排水窪地 /排水洼地 (páishuǐ wādì)depressed area in which water collects
  • 得分洞hole in the playfield
  • 獎勵洞 /奖励洞hole in the playfield
  • 黑洞伺服器domain name server
  • 沉洞DNSdomain name server
  • 重定向攻擊 /重定向攻击attack
  • 劫持攻擊 /劫持攻击attack
  • 設置沉洞 /设置沉洞 (shèzhì chéndòng)configure as a sinkhole
Dutch zinkgat
  • zinkgatgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
Esperanto dolino
  • dolinogeology: hole formed in soluble rock
Finnish karstivajoama, vajoama
  • karstivajoamageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • vajoamageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • doliinigeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • suppageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • sortumakaivogeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • vajoamadepressed area in which water collects
  • kuoppadepressed area in which water collects
  • kolohole in the playfield
  • turhia osoitteita antava nimipalvelindomain name server
  • liikenteen uudelleen ohjaava hyökkäysattack
  • määrittää antamaan turhia osoitteitaconfigure as a sinkhole
French doline, gouffre
  • dolinegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • gouffregeology: hole formed in soluble rock
German Doline, Senkloch
  • Dolinegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Senklochgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Sinklochgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Erdfallgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Schwindegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Flussschwindegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Schwalglochgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Schlucklochgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • Senklochdepressed area in which water collects
  • Sinklochdepressed area in which water collects
  • Ablaufdepressed area in which water collects
  • Abflussdepressed area in which water collects
Greek καταβοθρα
  • καταβοθρα (katavothra)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
Hebrew בולען
  • בולען (bol'án)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
Irish súmaire, poll slogaide
  • súmairegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • poll slogaidegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • slogaidegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • cíocrageology: hole formed in soluble rock
Italian dolina, pulo
  • dolinageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • pulogeology: hole formed in soluble rock
Japanese シンクホール, シンクホール
  • シンクホール (shinkuhōru)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • シンクホール (shinkuhōru)depressed area in which water collects
Korean 싱크홀, 땅꺼짐
  • 싱크홀 (singkeuhol)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • 땅꺼짐 (ttangkkeojim)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • 돌리네 (dolline)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
Māori tomo, whāwhārua
  • tomogeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • whāwhāruadepressed area in which water collects
Norwegian Bokmål jordfallshull, synkehull
  • jordfallshullgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • synkehullgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
Polish lej krasowy, lejek krasowy
  • lej krasowygeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • lejek krasowygeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • werteb krasowygeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • wertep krasowygeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • zapadliskodepressed area in which water collects
Portuguese dolina
  • dolinageology: hole formed in soluble rock
Romanian dolină
  • dolinăgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
Russian ка́рстовая воро́нка, дья́волова дыра́
  • ка́рстовая воро́нка (kárstovaja vorónka)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • дья́волова дыра́ (dʹjávolova dyrá)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • выгребна́я я́ма (vygrebnája jáma)depressed area in which water collects
Spanish torca, dolina
  • torcageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • dolinageology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • cenotegeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • desagüedepressed area in which water collects
Swedish slukhål, sänka
  • slukhålgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • sänkageology: hole formed in soluble rock
Thai หลุมยุบ
  • หลุมยุบ (lǔm-yúp)geology: hole formed in soluble rock
Turkish düden, obruk
  • düdengeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • obrukgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
  • düdendepressed area in which water collects
Vietnamese hố sụt
  • hố sụtgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
Welsh llyncdwll
  • llyncdwllgeology: hole formed in soluble rock
Cite this entry
APA

sinkhole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinkhole

MLA

“sinkhole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinkhole. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sinkhole,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sinkhole.

Source: sinkhole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.