airhole

noun

1. A hole provided for ventilation or breathing.

   “"This wall is badly built," he went on in a careless tone; "look, there is another space there at the back;" and he actually came up to it and held the lantern close to the airhole in such fashion that its light shone through into Jess's eyes and nearly blinded her.”

   “For if they touch one another, and so do not leave airholes and admit draughts of air to blow between them, they get heated and soon begin to rot.”

   “The youngest son, Vardaman, is unable to cope with Addie's death and drills airholes in her coffin (and accidentally into her head) and insistently declares, "My mother is a fish"--like the big one he recently caught and gutted.”

2. A hole in ice through which air escapes.

   “Through these and through countless airholes, the water began to sweep across the surface of the ice, and by the time he pulled into a woodchopper's cabin on the point of an island, the dogs were being rushed off their feet and were swimming more often than not.”

   “"Even if it is hard enough, there may be airholes around."”

3. An air pocket.