holeyness

English

Etymology

From holey +‎ -ness. Compare Middle English holynesse (“condition of having pores”).

Noun

holeyness (uncountable)

1. The quality of being holey.
   • 1969 October 26, Carol Hudson, “Praise for My Grandmother”, in Maine Sunday Telegram, volume 83, number 14, Portland, Me., page 4D, column 1:

     […] the final rags soaked well, then washed by hand to scrub and scrub until the fabric died of holeyness.

   • 1985 July 11, Ian Stewart, “The knots and strands of mathematical theory”, in The Guardian, page 15, column 2:

     But no topologist, however accomplished, can separate a doughnut from its hole. So holeyness is a topological property.

   • 2006, Ellen Sandbeck, Organic Housekeeping, Scribner, →ISBN, page 120:

     After my dishcloths attain holeyness, I give them a decent burial in my compost pile.

Anagrams

• honeyless, holynesse