Word.ws English Dictionary

bolthole

bolthole noun: a hole in an animal’s den, or through a wall or fence, used for escape or emergency exit, i.e., a hole the animal may bolt through.

Noun

bolthole (plural boltholes)

  1. A hole in an animal’s den, or through a wall or fence, used for escape or emergency exit, i.e., a hole the animal may bolt through.
    • Eragon: They may try to slip past us and escape Helgrind through the entrance we used. Saphira: They probably have a bolt-hole at ground level.2008, Christopher Paolini, “Assault on Helgrind”, in Brisingr, page 51
  2. (figuratively) A hidden place of emergency refuge.
    • There was a guard at the front doors. He was smoking a cigarette; she'd seen the light from a great distance. They'd grown incautious in the absence of her continual raids, probably imagining she'd died of some viral infection alone in one of the countless caves ringing the forest. She'd seen their...2023 October 12, Harry Blank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 22 May 2024
  3. (figuratively) A second home, etc., where one can seek an escape or refuge from the stresses of everyday life.
    • a bolthole in the Dordogne
    • “We’ll find a home among the Fremen,” Paul said, “where your Missionaria Protectiva has bought us a bolt hole.”
      They’ve prepared a way for us in the desert, Jessica told herself. But how can he know of the Missionaria Protectiva?1965 October 1, Frank Herbert, “Book II: Muad’Dib”, in Dune, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Book Company; [Toronto], Ont.: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 205

Examples of bolthole in a sentence

  • She'd seen their hunting parties canvassing the area, had prepared a few extra boltholes in case they found the one she'd shared with Yésica, but it hadn't proven necessary.2023 October 12, Harry Blank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 22 May 2024:
  • In the 1950s, Hollywood decamped to the desert – bankrolling the world’s most daring modernist architects to create ever more experimental boltholes.2016 February 29, Oliver Wainwright, “Two pools, 13 bathrooms and 300 for dinner: the modernist fun palaces of Palm Springs”, in The...
  • Bradshaw tells me that George stayed at the Royal Lodge, which I believe was his nearby holiday bolthole - Gloucester Lodge.2023 December 27, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the way to Weymouth”, in RAIL, number 999, page 55:

Forms of bolthole

pluralboltholes
alternative formbolt-hole

Origin of bolthole

From bolt + hole.

Questions about bolthole

What does bolthole mean?
Bolthole means a hole in an animal’s den, or through a wall or fence, used for escape or emergency exit, i.e., a hole the animal may bolt through.
How do you use bolthole in a sentence?
She'd seen their hunting parties canvassing the area, had prepared a few extra boltholes in case they found the one she'd shared with Yésica, but it hadn't proven necessary.
What part of speech is bolthole?
Bolthole is a noun.
What is the plural of bolthole?
The plural of bolthole is boltholes.

Words near bolthole in the dictionary

  1. boltface
  2. boltfaces
  3. bolth
  4. bolthead
  5. boltheads
  6. bolthole
  7. boltholes
  8. bolti
  9. bolties
  10. bolting
  11. bolting cloth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bolthole (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “bolthole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bolthole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.