adjective / verb / noun

hollow

HAH-loh/ˈhɑːləʊ/

Having an empty or recessed interior.

The hollow tree provides a sheltered home for small animals.

A short hollow log viewed at an angle, with a broad open end clearly revealing an empty cavity inside its thick wooden wall.

Etymology

Holh named a hole or internal cavity. The adjective turns that name for an empty space into a description of something containing one.

In context

DTD History Radio1:05

When the rainy season arrives, the baobab absorbs water through its root system and stores it inside its trunk, not in a hollow cavity, inside the living wood itself.

This Tree Stores 1,000 Gallons Of Water In Its Trunk — Why Don't Survivalists Plant It?

More examples

We hollow out the squash before adding the filling.
Morning fog settles in the hollow below the farm.
His apology sounds hollow because he keeps breaking the same promise.

Forms

hollow · hollows · hollowed · hollowing · hollower · hollowest

hollowness noun — The state of being empty inside.

Similar words

empty: Describes a lack of contents, not necessarily an interior cavity.
concave: Describes a surface that curves inward, rather than an interior.
sunken: Describes something below its surrounding surface, not necessarily empty.