1. A small opening or compartment in a street or basement wall through which coal is delivered into a building's coal storage area.
Usage: chiefly British; historical

Examples

• The old townhouse still had a coalhole in its basement wall from the Victorian era.
• Coal was shoveled through the coalhole directly into the cellar storage room.
• Many historic buildings in London retain their original coalholes, though they are no longer in use.
• The coalhole cover was a metal grate set flush with the pavement.
• Before central heating, every house with a coal furnace needed a convenient coalhole for fuel delivery.