hollow out

verb

hollowed out; hollowing out; hollows out

1

: to remove the inside of (something) : to make an empty space in (something)

The kids were hollowing out pumpkins.

a hollowed-out log

2

: to form (something) by digging or cutting the inside of something

Workers hollowed out a tunnel through the mountain.

Examples of hollow out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the shutdown has hollowed out capacity at a particularly sensitive moment. —Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026

The demolition of public housing less than a decade before hollowed out a town already on its knees. —Molly Parker, ProPublica, 22 Apr. 2026

This tree house goes down rather than up—a few steps will take you into a 20-foot room created by hollowing out the base of a still-living giant redwood stump. —Cu Fleshman, Travel + Leisure, 19 Apr. 2026

Thousands of reduction-in-force cuts hollowed out divisions and departments, though some of those were reinstated after legal action. —Sarah Owermohle, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2026

Rhymes for hollow out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout