Posthole

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A narrow, vertical excavation in the soil designed to accommodate the base of a post or similar vertical structure
2. This is a cylindrical hole dug into the earth to securely install a post for fencing or similar purposes
3. A deep, narrow pit made in the ground to place the end of a post for support

Etymology: "Posthole" is about as transparent as compounds get: it is simply "post" followed by "hole," two plain English words joined together. The "post" comes from Latin "postis," a doorpost or upright support, which passed into Old English as "post" and kept its sense of an upright timber set firmly in the ground. The "hole" is the older, native Germanic word for an opening or cavity, so the compound pairs a Latin-derived upright with a homegrown English noun. The word describes exactly what it sounds like: the excavated cavity that receives a fence post or similar upright, dug so the post can be set and held steady. Its meaning has not shifted over time, which is part of why the word stays so literal.

Synonyms: digging, hole