Pothole
Posted by Henry on May 14, 2003
In Reply to: Pothole posted by heather smith on May 14, 2003
: Lame answer, a hole an be shaped like a lot of things.
pot-hole - 1839, originally a geological feature in glaciers and gravel beds, from M.E. pot in sense of "a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging" (sense preserved in Scotland and northern England dialect); perhaps ultimately related to pot on notion of "deep, cylindrical shape."
In the limestone country of the Yorkshire Dales, pot-hole is the name for a cave formed by a stream dissolving the limestone. Gaping Gill on Ingleborough is the largest cave in England, reputedly larger than York Minster. You can descend by winch on some bank holidays.