rathole
/ˈrætˌhoʊl/
noun
- A small, dirty, or cramped room or living space.
- They lived in a rathole of a basement for years before saving enough for a better place.
- The hotel room was a rathole, so they asked for a refund.
- His first apartment was a rathole with peeling paint and a broken heater.
- A hole or burrow made by a rat.
- The exterminator found a rathole behind the kitchen cabinets.
- We sealed up the rathole in the garage to keep rodents out.
- A rathole in the garden wall led to a nest under the shed.
- A situation or activity that consumes a lot of time, money, or resources without producing useful results.
- Browsing social media can be a rathole that wastes hours of your day.
- That old car is a rathole — I've spent thousands on repairs and it still breaks down.
- The project turned into a rathole, eating up the entire budget with no clear outcome.