1
general::
Phrase(s): hole up (somewhere)
1. to take shelter somewhere. • During the blizzard, we holed up in a lean-to made of branches. • Looks like bad weather coming. We’d better find a place to hole up. 2. to hide somewhere. • The police are looking for me. I need somewhere to hole up. • The outlaw holed up in a cave.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Take refuge or shelter, hide, as in I spent most of the cruise holed up in my cabin. This usage alludes to animals hibernating in winter or hiding from attack in caves or holes. [Late 1800s]
American Heritage Idioms