hollows

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of hollow.

   Mist settled into the wooded hollows of the valley by dawn.

   Owls nested in the dark hollows of the ancient oaks.

   Note

   One spelling serves two words: the plural noun and the verb's present-tense form. As a noun it carries every meaning of the singular: small valleys between mountains, sunken patches on a surface, cavities in something solid, and, figuratively, feelings of emptiness. The wooded hollows of a hillside and the hollows of a tree trunk are equally at home. A determiner or adjective in front of it marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of hollow.

   The river slowly hollows the soft limestone into a network of caves.

   The carpenter hollows each block before fitting the joints together.

   Note

   Two different verbs share this form. The common one is transitive and wants a solid object: water hollows stone, a carpenter hollows a block. The other means to call or urge by shouting, a variant of hollo, so someone who hollows across a field is raising their voice, not digging. To tell them apart, check what follows: something being cut into, or someone being called.

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