glory hole

Meanings

1. A hole in a screen or wall big enough to allow an erect penis to be stuck through, made to facilitate anonymous sex with another person.
2. A hole in the side of a furnace used to heat glass held on a metal rod.
3. A hole in a mineshaft where an orebody is mined upwards until it breaks through the surface into the open air.
4. An excavation into the sea floor designed to protect the wellhead equipment installed at the surface of a petroleum well from icebergs or pack ice.
5. A military trench.
6. In the merchant and Royal Navy:
7. A generally untidy place.
8. The stewards' mess on a passenger liner.
9. The stokehold on a coal-burning tramp steamer.
10. A bell-mouth spillway; a spillway (a structure in the reservoir above a dam that allows overflowing water to be released in a controlled fashion) that is shaped like an upside-down bell, thereby giving the appearance of a hole in the surface of the water.
11. An especially good place to fish, a particularly rich fishing spot.
12. A deep built-in cupboard under the eaves or stairs of a house used for general storage, particularly of unrelated or unwanted items stored in some disorder.

1. Alternative spelling of gloryhole.