🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

refuge

Pronunciation / Transliteration: ʁe.fyʒ

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Bolt-hole/ˈboʊlt.hoʊl/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #45200 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Il a trouvé un refuge secret à la campagne."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A small room, house, or hidden place where someone can go to hide, escape, or be safe from danger or trouble.

    "He bought a secluded cottage in the mountains to use as a bolt-hole away from the pressures of city life."
  2. 2

    Originally, a hole in a warren or earth into which a hunted animal retreats.

    "The hounds flushed the fox from its bolt-hole across the open field."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Originating in the late 18th century from the literal sense of a hole through which a bolt or pin is passed, or an escape hole for an animal like a rabbit. By extension, the term evolved to metaphorically describe any hiding place or safe retreat to which someone can rapidly escape in times of trouble.

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