poke a hole in (something)

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poke a hole in (something)

1. Literally, to form a hole in something by piercing it (with something else). Tommy, stop poking holes in your bread and eat it! She began absentmindedly poking a hole in her paper with her pen.
2. To identify or highlight some flaw in some plan, idea, argument, etc. Typically used in plural constructions. She quickly began poking holes in his theory. Before I offer up my own proposals, let me begin by poking a few holes in what my opponent has suggested.
See also: hole, poke
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

poke a hole in something

 and poke a hole through something
to make a hole by pushing something through something; to push something through a hole. The carpenter poked a hole in the wall with a nail. The fisherman poked a hole through the ice with a pick.
See also: hole, poke
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Her best chapters poke holes in patently incredible diagnoses.
The blood contains oxygen that is converted by certain cells into free radicals, highly reactive molecules that can disrupt DNA, cripple enzymes, poke holes in cell membranes and kill cells.
How the opposition is going to rally against the government remains to be seen, but all indicators point to some sort of street demonstrations, in a bid to pressure the government and poke holes in their strategy at the helm of affairs.
Summary: Defense counsel representing five Hezbollah members accused of killing Rafik Hariri sought to poke holes in testimony offered by the former Prime Minister's childhood friend and confidante Ghaleb al-Shamaa at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Thursday.
The only other thing you need is some type of heavy metal bar to poke holes in the ground with.
Poke holes in chicken breasts and add to olive oil mixture.
These results suggest that the toxin might poke holes in insects' guts, explains Handelsman, allowing Enterobacter and other infectious gut bacteria to flood out into the hemolymph and take over the rest of a bug's body.
For above-ground nests, the chimps used the lighter stick to poke holes in the dirt.
"It's my job to prepare my best possible case, poke holes in my competitor's case, and convince the customer to use steel for this application." The speaker is J.P.
The questions are geared to poke holes in our assumptions, biases and all-round ignorance of the animal world.
Some of the table ends had a piece missing, a random detail that drew attention both to Scanlan's interest in modular form and his need to poke holes in seemingly seamless constructions.
Herman tried to poke holes in books that warned of Khmer Rouge atrocities.
Spence and the other defense attorneys used cross-examination to poke holes in the sometimes shifting stories of government witnesses and to put the government on trial indirectly.
Nonetheless, cautions Shull, many more experiments are needed to see if it's possible to poke holes in this new theory.