Word.ws English Dictionary

Johnson hole

Johnson hole noun: a large shell crater during the First World War.

Noun

Johnson hole (plural Johnson holes)

  1. (historical, slang) A large shell crater during the First World War.
    • And to his immediate front, below the shelving ramp, a circular calm water graced the deep of a Johnson hole […]1937, David Jones, In Parenthesis, Part 3
    • A running joke is the supposed general who has fallen into a Johnson hole, and Bert's anxiety about whether he should ‘let him drift or fish 'im out’.2005, Gordon Williams, British Theatre in the Great War, page 196

Forms of Johnson hole

pluralJohnson holes
alternative formJack Johnson hole

Origin of Johnson hole

Named, for its size, after Jack Johnson (1878-1946), the world heavyweight boxing champion until 1915.

Questions about Johnson hole

What does Johnson hole mean?
Johnson hole means a large shell crater during the First World War.
What part of speech is Johnson hole?
Johnson hole is a noun.
What is the plural of Johnson hole?
The plural of Johnson hole is Johnson holes.

Words near Johnson hole in the dictionary

  1. Johnson Citian
  2. Johnson City
  3. Johnson County
  4. Johnson grass
  5. Johnson grasses
  6. Johnson hole
  7. Johnson holes
  8. Johnson Lane
  9. Johnson neuroectodermal syndrome
  10. Johnson noise
  11. Johnson polyhedra

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Johnson hole (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: “Johnson hole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/johnson_hole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.