sinkhole

Plural: sinkholes

Noun

• A natural depression in the ground caused by erosion.
• a depression in the ground communicating with a subterranean passage (especially in limestone) and formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof
• A hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage.
• A depressed area in which waste or drainage collects.
• A hole in the playfield that rewards the player when the ball is guided into it.
• A domain name server that has been configured to hand out non-routeable addresses for all domains, so that every computer that uses it will fail to get access to the real website.
• An attack which redirects requests, whether network or memory accesses, to a new location defined by the attacker.

Verb

• To configure as a sinkhole (domain name server that gives non-routeable addresses).

Examples

• Leaving a massive opening on the Scrabble board is like creating a sinkhole for opponents.

Synonyms

sink, swallow hole, cenote, dolina, doline, shakehole, swallet