LOOPHOLE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does loophole mean? 

• LOOPHOLE (noun)
  The noun LOOPHOLE has 2 senses:

1. an ambiguity (especially one in the text of a law or contract) that makes it possible to evade a difficulty or obligation

2. a small hole in a fortified wall; for observation or discharging weapons

  Familiarity information: LOOPHOLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOOPHOLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An ambiguity (especially one in the text of a law or contract) that makes it possible to evade a difficulty or obligation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("loophole" is a kind of...):

ambiguity (an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context)

Domain category:

contract (a binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small hole in a fortified wall; for observation or discharging weapons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("loophole" is a kind of...):

hole (an opening deliberately made in or through something)

 Context examples 

Mr. Trelawney, you are the best shot—you and Gray will take this long north side, with the five loopholes; it's there the danger is.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Do you not see some loophole, some flaw?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I descended, minding carefully where I went, for the stairs were dark, being only lit by loopholes in the heavy masonry.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I turned to the loophole nearest me and looked out.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

On the two short sides of the house, east and west, there were only two loopholes; on the south side where the porch was, two again; and on the north side, five.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

If the mutineers succeeded in crossing the stockade, he argued, they would take possession of any unprotected loophole and shoot us down like rats in our own stronghold.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And at that, up I jumped, and rubbing my eyes, ran to a loophole in the wall.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Another had been shot at a loophole in the very act of firing into the house and now lay in agony, the pistol still smoking in his hand.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The head of Job Anderson, the boatswain, appeared at the middle loophole.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He must have risen in the dark, for the day had hardly come; and when I ran to a loophole and looked out, I saw him standing, like Silver once before, up to the mid-leg in creeping vapour.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)