One syllable: holes.
/hoʊlz/
Say it backHoles is the plural of hole, referring to openings or perforations in a surface or object. The word denotes spaces or gaps and can describe physical voids, defects, or strategic openings in various contexts. Pronounced with a short /oʊ/ vowel and a final /z/ sound, it functions flexibly across nouns and metaphorical uses in everyday and specialized language.
"There are several holes in the fence that we need to patch before the rain starts."
"The cheese has holes that look like bubbles, a sign of nice aging in Swiss varieties."
"Her socks wore thin and had small holes near the toes after the hike."
You say /hoʊlz/ in US and /həʊlz/ in UK. Start with a long /oʊ/ diphthong, then end with a voiced /lz/ cluster: lips form a light /oʊ/ glide, then the /l/ with a relaxed tongue, and finish with a voiced /z/. In casual speech, the vowel may be reduced to /həʊlz/ or /hoʊlz/ depending on pace. Visualize your mouth curving into a rounded start, then settle into a clear /l/ before the /z/ sound. Audio examples: you’ll hear a smooth /oʊ/ and a crisp /lz/.”,
Common errors: 1) Slurring the vowel to a short /ɒ/ or /ɜː/ and producing /hɔːlz/ instead of /hoʊlz/. 2) Devoicing the final /z/ as /s/ in rapid speech, yielding /hoʊls/. 3) Misplacing the /l/ by tensing the tongue away from the alveolar ridge, making the /l/ sound like a vowel or an /ɡ/-like spill. Correction: keep the /oʊ/ as a clean diphthong, ensure the tongue lightly touches the alveolar ridge for /l/, and finish with a voiced /z/ by vibrating the vocal cords. Practice slowly and then speed up while maintaining voicing.”,
US: full /oʊ/ diphthong, clear /l/ and voicing on /z/. UK: may be /həʊlz/ with slightly reduced vowel in rapid speech and a more dental-alveolar /l/; some regions drop the rhoticity in certain words but not in holes. AU: similar to US, often a centralized or slightly shorter /oʊ/; rhythm can be flatter. The key is ensuring the rhyme with goals/poles, while keeping the final /z/ voiced. Vowel quality and rhoticity influence the exact vowel transition and perceived openness.”,
The challenge lies in balancing the diphthong /oʊ/ with a precise onset and the /lz/ cluster. The /l/ requires a specific tongue position against the alveolar ridge while the /z/ demands controlled voicing. In fast speech, the /oʊ/ can reduce to /o/ or /əʊ/, risking a misheard word as /hos/ or /hɔlz/. Practicing slow, clear enunciation with a dedicated /z/ helps maintain distinctivity, especially for non-native speakers who may merge the /l/ into a vowel.”,
The word has a straightforward vowel-consonant pattern but is a useful test of diphthong accuracy and voiced consonant clarity. The stress is on the single syllable and there is no secondary stress; the challenge is ensuring the syllable is long enough to accommodate the /oʊ/ glide and that the final /z/ is robust. IPA reminds you to keep the /oʊ/ intact, not reduced, so you hear the distinct vowel contour and not a shortened vowel that could blur with /hɪdz/ or /hoʊls/.
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Hole comes from Old English hol, holen, meaning a hollow place or opening, related to Proto-Germanic *hula- and Proto-Indo-European *kel- ‘to hollow out’ or ‘to be empty.’ The plural holes uses the standard English plural -s suffix. Early senses were concrete openings in walls or ground; as architecture and tools evolved, the term extended to any gap or void. In Middle English, hole had broader meanings including ‘a hollow or cavity in any substance’ and was used in compounds like molehole or dough-hole. The modern sense—an opening or perforation in a surface—emerged as manufacturing and everyday objects developed holes for drainage, fasteners, or perforation. The plural form “holes” appears in older writings by the 14th century and reflects a straightforward grammatical pluralization rather than a semantic shift. Over time, “holes” also acquired metaphorical uses (e.g., “plot holes”) to indicate gaps in logic or consistency, a semantic broadening that parallels other abstract nouns. In contemporary English, holes can denote physical gaps (fence holes, holes in fabric) and metaphorical ones (holes in a plan, holes in a theory), while still retaining the tactile sense of openings and voids in material form.
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Words that rhyme with "holes"
-les sounds
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