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# pothole

«pothole» in Mova's school dictionary: **A hole in the surface of a road or path, made by weather…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a pothole, potholes)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A hole in the surface of a road or path, made by weather and traffic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#m1)

2) A deep hole or cave in rock, often made by water, that people may climb down. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#m2)

3) (informal) A hidden problem that could cause trouble. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life potholes damage bikes and cars, so cyclists must watch for them, especially when puddles hide them. Councils fill potholes. «Potholing» (UK) is exploring caves. Phrases: «hit a pothole», «fill in a pothole», «avoid the potholes».

### examples

- Dad's car hit a pothole and the tyre went flat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#x1)
- Watch out for potholes when you ride your bike. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#x2)
- The pothole filled with rain and looked like a puddle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#x3)
- The council finally fixed the potholes on our street. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#x4)
- The explorers climbed down a deep pothole in the hills. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#x5)
- There are a few potholes in the plan, but we can fix them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#x6)
- My scooter wobbled when it hit a pothole. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/#x7)

### note

Countable, one word. A «pothole» on roads is common in UK, US, Canada, Australia, NZ and Ireland. Safety: a puddle can hide a deep pothole, so ride around puddles carefully. «Potholing» (caving) is mainly British; Americans say «caving» or «spelunking».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pothole» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pothole/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.