pothole (Geography Dictionary)

pothole: Also called a pot, swirlhole, churn hole, evorsion, rock mill, and eddy mill.

1.  Any smooth, bowl-shaped or cylindrical hollow, generally deeper than it is wide, that is carved into the rocky bed of a watercourse such as a stream or river. Fluvial potholes are created by the grinding action of stones or coarse sediment kept in perpetual motion in the same spot by the turbulence of the current. The term is also used to refer to plunge pools beneath waterfalls, which are created by similar processes. See also kolk.2.  A vertical or steeply inclined karstic shaft in a limestone deposit.3.  In the Great Plains of North America, a shallow depression, generally less than 10 acres (4.0 ha) in area, occurring between dunes or on morainic relief on a prairie and often filled by an intermittent pond or marsh.4.  Another name for a kettle.5.  Another name for a panhole.