armhole

See also: arm hole

English

From arm +‎ hole.[1]

armhole (plural armholes)

(anatomy, now rare Midlands dialectal) A human armpit.
- c. 1425, translating Guy de Chauliac as The Grande Chirurgie, p. 154:
  An aposteme gendred in þe purgynge places, þat is to say, of þe brayne vnder þe eres, of þe herte vnder þe arme holes, of þe lyuer in the schares.
- 1535, Bible (Coverdale Bible), Jer. 38:12:
  Put these ragges and cloutes vnder thine arme holes.
- 2005 September 7, Birmingham Post, p. 9:
  Armhole is a variant on armpit in the west and east Midlands.
(anatomy, rare and obsolete) Similar structures in other animals.
(fashion) A hole for an arm in a piece of clothing.
- 1731 January 15, Proceedings of the Old Bailey, p. 13:
  He... violently pull'd off her Riding-Hood, and tore it at the Arm Holes in pulling it off.

armpit — see armpit

hole in a piece of clothing

"armhole, n." in the Oxford English Dictionary (2016), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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