rathole

See also: rat hole

English

From rat +‎ hole.

rathole (plural ratholes)

An entrance to a living area or passageway used by mice or rats.
A living area used by mice or rats, or a similar living area used by other animals.
- 1913, Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, page 122:
  Bhantus catch the sanda, or broad-tailed lizard, which dwells in rat-holes in the ground and lives always in fear of the cobra.
A particularly squalid human residence or other place.
An area of a silo that has undergone ratholing, so that material moves mostly through the centre and accumulates around the edges.
(printing) A pigeonhole.

an entrance to a living area or passageway used by mice or rats

a particularly squalid human residence

rathole (third-person singular simple present ratholes, present participle ratholing, simple past and past participle ratholed)

(transitive) To hoard.
(transitive) To take a conversation off topic, especially in technical meetings.
(transitive, poker) To surreptitiously or prematurely remove chips during a poker game.
(intransitive, poker) To exit a cash game and re-enter with a smaller stack.
(intransitive) (of material) To empty only in the center of a hopper or silo, persisting circumferentially.