- rathole⇄expr. down the rathole, to nothing; down the drain.
Ex. His last pile of money--thirty-five thousand dollars--went down the rathole when he tried to save an old friend from bankruptcy (New Yorker). - rathole⇄rathole, noun.
1. a hole gnawed, as in woodwork, by a rat or rats.
2. (Figurative.) a disreputable place or condition.
Ex. Who routed you from a rathole ... to perch you in a palace? (H. and J. Smith).