This term appears in 1 Samuel 23:23, where Saul tells his informants: 'Learn all the hiding places where David hides.' The word encompasses natural and man-made refuges—caves, wilderness strongholds, rocky terrain where a fugitive could evade pursuers. Saul's obsessive quest to map every possible hiding place shows his determination to eliminate David. The plural emphasizes how many potential refuges existed in Judean wilderness, making the hunter's task extremely difficult. Geography itself became David's ally through these numerous hiding places.