Meaning & use
hollow log
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A fallen tree trunk or thick branch whose inside has rotted or been eaten away, leaving an empty space that small animals can use as a shelter.
Grammar: Takes a/the or becomes plural: a hollow log, two hollow logs.
Patterns
- inside a hollow log
- hide in a hollow log
- a hollow log full of something
A family of hedgehogs was sleeping inside the hollow log.
We found a frog hiding in a hollow log beside the stream.
The children crawled through a hollow log as if it were a tunnel.
Word forms
| plural | hollow logs |
|---|
Common combinations
- crawl through a hollow log
- The puppy crawled through a hollow log and came out covered in moss.
- shelter in a hollow log
- The owl chicks sheltered in a hollow log during the storm.
- an old hollow log
- An old hollow log lay across the path in the forest.
- nest in a hollow log
- Some ducks nest in a hollow log close to the water.
- peer into a hollow log
- She peered into the hollow log with a flashlight.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tree stump
- A tree stump is the short base left standing after a tree is cut, whereas a hollow log lies on its side and is empty inside.
- fallen tree
- Fallen tree describes any tree that has come down, while hollow log stresses that the trunk is empty and can shelter animals.
- tree hollow
- A tree hollow is a cavity in a tree that may still be standing, while a hollow log is a trunk already on the ground.
Word family
Commonly confused: hollow log or hollow tree?
hollow log vs hollow tree
A hollow tree is still standing, while a hollow log has fallen and lies on the ground.
Practice
A small lizard ran into the ___ at the edge of the woods and disappeared.
Choose one answer.
A hollow log has an empty space inside where a lizard could vanish from sight. A tree stump is solid on top, and a leaf is too flat to hide inside.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hollow log”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.