Meaning & use
bullet hole
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A hole left in a wall, vehicle or other object by a bullet that has struck or passed through it.
Grammar: Countable: one bullet hole, many bullet holes. Written as two words.
Patterns
- a bullet hole in something
- a bullet hole through something
The old road sign had a bullet hole through the letter O.
Police found a bullet hole in the kitchen wall.
The museum keeps a door with a bullet hole from the battle.
Word forms
| plural | bullet holes |
|---|
Common combinations
- bullet hole in the wall
- A small bullet hole in the wall was the only sign of the shooting.
- riddled with bullet holes
- The abandoned car was riddled with bullet holes.
- patch a bullet hole
- Workers patched each bullet hole before repainting the building.
- fresh bullet hole
- Investigators noticed a fresh bullet hole near the window frame.
- bullet hole through the windshield
- There was a bullet hole through the windshield of the truck.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bullet wound
- Bullet wound refers to an injury to a person or animal, whereas bullet hole describes damage to an object.
- puncture
- Puncture is a general term for any small hole made by a pointed thing, so it does not tell you a gun was involved.
- gunshot hole
- Gunshot hole is a less common variant and sometimes covers damage from pellets as well as bullets.
Word family
Commonly confused: bullet hole or bullet point?
bullet hole vs bullet point
A bullet point is a small dot that marks an item in a list and has nothing to do with firearms.
Practice
The detective measured the ___ in the wall to work out where the shot had come from.
Choose one answer.
A bullet hole is the hole that a bullet leaves. Bullet point, bulletin and bullet train are related-looking words that do not describe damage to a wall.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bullet hole”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.