rathole
Grimy, cramped quarters
A rathole is literally a hole where rats enter or live, but the word appears mostly in figurative uses.
A rathole is a cramped, squalid dwelling: He lived in a rathole on the Lower East Side.
To pour money down a rathole is to waste it on something worthless or futile.
As a verb, to rathole is to stash away secretly: She ratholed half her paycheck before the divorce.
Enclosed underground route
- denPrivate room or lair
- lairAnimal's hidden dwelling
- warrenInterconnected underground tunnels
- dugoutCarved-log canoe
nest · cavity · underground · subterranean · excavation · hideout · chamber · earth
Wretched small dwelling
- dumpWaste disposal site
- diveHeadfirst water entry
- slumImpoverished urban district
- fleapitDilapidated cinema
shack · pigsty · hellhole · cesspit · decrepit · rundown · seedy · filthy
Use up carelessly
- fritterFried batter cake
- misallocateDistribute to wrong place
- drainChannel for wastewater
- siphonLiquid transfer tube
dissipate · deplete · funnel · embezzle · misappropriate · bleed · leak · hemorrhage
Made narrower by pressure
- tightFirmly stretched or fitting
- crampedUncomfortably lacking space
- squeezeFirm bilateral compression
- pinchedStole or squeezed tightly
restricted · choked · bottleneck · passageway · aperture · opening · crevice · gap
Divert from purpose
- tangentLine touching curve once
- distractionThing diverting one's attention
- detourAlternate path around obstruction
- digressionVeering off topic
deflection · time sink · deviation · meandering · wasteful · unproductive · bureaucratic · endless
tunnel
Enclosed underground route
dugout · nest · cavity · underground · subterranean · excavation · hideout · chamber · earth · habitat
hovel
Wretched small dwelling
fleapit · shack · pigsty · hellhole · cesspit · decrepit · rundown · seedy · filthy · dilapidated
squander
Use up carelessly
- fritterFried batter cake
- misallocateDistribute to wrong place
- drainChannel for wastewater
siphon · dissipate · deplete · funnel · embezzle · misappropriate · bleed · leak · hemorrhage · misspend
constricted
Made narrower by pressure
pinched · restricted · choked · bottleneck · passageway · aperture · opening · crevice · gap
sidetrack
Divert from purpose
- tangentLine touching curve once
- distractionThing diverting one's attention
- detourAlternate path around obstruction
digression · deflection · time sink · deviation · meandering · wasteful · unproductive · bureaucratic · endless · futile