jawhole

noun

1. A hole or an open drain into which sewage or waste water is thrown; the opening of a sewer; or a cesspool or cesspit, an underground pit or container used to collect and store sewage and wastewater from a house in areas without a centralized sewer system.

   dated

   This jawhole, as it is connected with the drains of the neighbourhood and of the Palace itself, is a real mouth of Avernus, vomiting at all times, but especially in warm weather, a pestilential stretch on all who live in its vicinity, and being a perpetual cause of dangerous fevers. [...] close to Macbain and Macdonald’s jawhole, one gentleman has suffered a severe attack of fever…

2. A jawbox or tenement sink.

Where it comes from

Scottish dialectal term in use since the mid-1700s, with an early appearance in 1760. From jaw (a Scots verb meaning "to pour, throw out, or splash) + hole.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry jawhole (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← jawabjebait →

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