pothole

Imagine driving along, enjoying the scenery, when bam! your car hits a sudden dip. That is likely a pothole. A pothole is a hole in a paved road, usually caused by weather and traffic slowly breaking the surface apart. It is more than just annoying: it can damage tires, wheels, and suspension, and it can sometimes lead to accidents. You might hear about cities trying to fill them after a harsh winter, or see drivers carefully steering around them. This is the most common meaning of the word.

Potholes are bowl-shaped holes in the surface of a road or other paved area. They often form when water seeps into small cracks, then freezes and expands during cold weather. This weakens the surface, and repeated freezing and thawing, along with the weight of traffic, eventually cause pieces to break away and leave a hole behind.

They are not just an inconvenience. Cities and road crews spend time and money repairing them, often with temporary patches before larger road work can be done. You might read news stories about "pothole season" after a bad winter, or see warnings asking drivers to report them.

The word can also be used for a deep, rounded hole in rock made by moving water, especially in a riverbed. In everyday English, though, people usually mean the kind on the road. It can also be used in a loose, figurative way for an unexpected problem or setback, but that use is less common than the road sense.