holey

From Middle English holy, holi, holly, holli (“holey, spongy, hollow”); equivalent to hole +‎ -y. The e was inserted in Modern English to distinguish the word from holy (“hallowed, sacred”).

• (UK, wholly-holy split) IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊl.li/, [ˈhɒʊli], [ˈhɒʊɫ.li]
• (UK, without wholly-holy split) IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊli/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊli
• Homophones: wholly, holy (in accents without the wholly-holy split)

holey (comparative holier, superlative holiest)

1. Having, or being full of, holes.

   Fred loved holey Dutch cheese.

   • 2014, Zandria F. Robinson, chapter 3, in This Ain't Chicago: Race, Class, and Regional Identity in the Post-Soul South, University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 111:

     Steven also acknowledged that his presentation of self—wild locs, nerd glasses, and holey hipster jeans for our first interview—encourages whites to speak to him.

• holey dollar
• holeyness

• Hoyle