starting hole
starting hole noun: a loophole.
Noun
starting hole (plural starting holes)
- A loophole.
- What trick? what deuice? what starting hole canst thou now find out, to hide thee from this open and apparant shame.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Advaunce your standard Edward in the field,
And march to fire them from their starting holes.
A willow lies.1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [R. Robinson] for William Iones […], →OCLC, [Act II]
- A place used to hide, or evade pursuit.
- Whilſt furiouſly all vp and downe doth ſwimme
Th'inſnared Fiſh, here on the toppe doth ſcud,
There vnderneath the banckes, then in the mud;
And with his franticke fits ſo ſcares the ſhole,
That each one takes his hyde, or ſtarting hole;1613, William Browne, “The Fifth Song”, in Britannia’s Pastorals. [The First Booke], London: […] Geo[rge] Norton, […], →OCLC, page 102
- Whilſt furiouſly all vp and downe doth ſwimme
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see starting, hole.
Forms of starting hole
| plural | starting holes |
|---|
Origin of starting hole
See start (“to cause to flee”).
Questions about starting hole
- What does starting hole mean?
- Starting hole means a loophole.
- What part of speech is starting hole?
- Starting hole is a noun.
- What is the plural of starting hole?
- The plural of starting hole is starting holes.
Words near starting hole in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: starting 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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “starting hole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/starting_hole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.