Reference > Brewer’s Dictionary > Hole.

 Holdfast.Hole and Corner (business). 
CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
 
Hole.
 
Pick a hole in his coat. To find out some cause of blame. The allusion is to the Roman custom of dressing criminals in rags (Livy, ii. 61): Hence, a holey coat is a synonym for guilt.   1
       
“Hear, Land o’ cakes and brither Scots
Frae Maidenkirk to Johnny Groat’s
If there’s a hole in a your coats
I rede you tent it;
A chield’s amang you taking notes,
And, faith, he’ll prent it.”
       
Burns: On the late Capt. Grose, stanza 1.
 


 Holdfast.Hole and Corner (business). 

 
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