dry hole
A 'dry hole' originates from the oil and gas industry, but is also used metaphorically to describe unproductive efforts.
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Definition
C1Oil and Gas Industry
(technical)A drilled well that does not produce enough oil or gas to be commercially viable.
Example
- After months of drilling, the team concluded they had hit a dry hole.
B2General
(figurative)An effort or venture that fails to yield the desired or expected results.
Example
- The new marketing strategy turned out to be a dry hole, with no increase in sales.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "dry hole":
drill rigdrilling rigin the holebonus holeback holehand drillcoal holelove holestrike oilhoney holetube welldrill updry spellrun drytraverse drillair hole