pothole

Meanings

1. A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.
2. A pit formed in the bed of a turbulent stream.
3. A vertical cave system, often found in limestone.
4. A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure-hunters or vandals.
5. A shallow hole dug for the purpose of prospecting for opal or gold.
6. A hyperlink with text displayed on a page that is different from the title of the page to which the text links; a piped link.

1. A hole or recess on the top of a stove into which a pot may be placed.

Etymology

From dialectal pot (“pit, hollow, cavity”) + hole. The "cave" senses, attested since at least 1809 (as pot-hole), may be from Middle English pot, potte (“a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging”), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to English pit, pote, or pot. Compare Scots pott, patt (“a pit dug in the ground; coalpit”).