hollow

Etymology 1

From Middle English holow, holowe, holwe, holwȝ, holgh, from Old English holh (“a hollow”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulwī, from Proto-Germanic *hulwiją, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱólḱwos. Cognate with Old High German huliwa and hulwa, Middle High German hülwe. Perhaps related to hole.

noun

1. A small valley between mountains.
   He built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Rockies.
   c. 1710–20, Matthew Prior, The First Hymn Of Callimachus: To Jupiter Forests grew upon the barren hollows.
2. A sunken area or unfilled space in something solid; a cavity, natural or artificial.
   the hollow of the hand or of a tree
3. (figurative) A feeling of emptiness.
   a hollow in the pit of one’s stomach
4. (US) A sunken area.

verb

1. (transitive) to make a hole in something; to excavate

Etymology 2

From Middle English holowe, holwe, holuȝ, holgh, from the noun (see above).

adj

1. (of something solid) Having an empty space or cavity inside.
   a hollow tree; a hollow sphere
2. (of a sound) Distant, eerie; echoing, reverberating, as if in a hollow space; dull, muffled; often low-pitched.
   He let out a hollow moan.
   Through thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle: 1903, George Gordon Byron, On Leaving Newstead Abbey
3. (figurative) Without substance; having no real or significant worth; meaningless.
   a hollow victory
4. (figurative) Insincere, devoid of validity; specious.
   a hollow promise
5. Concave; gaunt; sunken.
6. (gymnastics) Pertaining to hollow body position

adv

1. (colloquial) Completely, as part of the phrase beat hollow or beat all hollow.

Etymology 3

Compare holler.

verb

1. To call or urge by shouting; to hollo.

intj

1. Alternative form of hollo