Meaning & use
potholing
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountableBritish
The sport or hobby of exploring underground cave systems, often with ropes and lamps.
Grammar: Uncountable, no article: they enjoy potholing.
Patterns
- go potholing
- a potholing trip
They went potholing in the Yorkshire Dales last weekend.
Potholing can be dangerous if the cave floods.
He took up potholing after a school trip underground.
verbintransitiveBritish
The -ing form of pothole: exploring caves as a sport.
Grammar: No object: we spent Saturday potholing.
Patterns
- go potholing
We are potholing in Derbyshire this weekend.
She loves potholing with her cousins.
They spent the summer potholing across northern England.
Word forms
| base verb | pothole |
|---|---|
| past tense | potholed |
| -ing form | potholing |
Common combinations
- go potholing
- We decided to go potholing at the weekend.
- potholing club
- He joined a local potholing club.
- potholing trip
- Their potholing trip lasted six hours.
- potholing expedition
- The potholing expedition reached a huge underground chamber.
- potholing equipment
- Good potholing equipment includes a helmet and a headlamp.
Synonyms and how they differ
- caving
- Is the more widely used and international word for the same activity.
- spelunking
- Is the American term, often used for casual cave exploring, while potholing sounds British and more serious.
- speleology
- Is the scientific study of caves, not the sport itself.
Word family
- pothole noun
- a deep hole in rock or a hole in a road
- potholer noun
- a person who goes potholing
- cave noun
- a natural underground space
Commonly confused: potholing or pothole?
potholing vs pothole
A pothole in a road is a damaged hole in the surface; potholing is the sport of exploring caves.
Practice
In Britain, exploring caves and underground passages as a hobby is often called ____.
Choose one answer.
Potholing is the British word for caving. Abseiling means descending a rope, which cavers do sometimes but is not the name of the sport.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “potholing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.