noun
drilling; hole punching; making a hole
General noun for the act of making a hole, whether by drilling, punching, or piercing. Often used in compound nouns like 穴あけパンチ (hole punch).
書類に穴あけパンチで穴をあける。
I punch holes in the documents with a hole punch.
壁の穴あけ作業は専門業者に頼んだ。
I hired a specialist for the drilling work on the wall.
The verb phrase meaning 'to make a hole'; 穴あけ is the noun form referring to the action or process.
Compound of 穴 (あな, 'hole') and the nominalized form of 開ける (あける, 'to open/make a hole').