What does poking holes in an argument mean?

Question

What does poking holes in an argument mean?

Answer 1

"Poking holes in an argument is refuting what was said. If the premises are missapplied and you point out the fallacy you are "poking holes", If someone says Hillary will make a great president and you point out that she was not in favor of supporting our troops, you have" poked holes". If Obama says " We must fix Washington" and you point out that he is part of Washington, you " poke holes". If Rory Sabattini says, " Tiger Woods is beatable" and he gets smothered in Head-to-Head matchup , Tiger has poked holes.

Answer 2

It means to point out errors in the other person's stance.  If the argument "holds water", it is a good solid argument, but if you "poke holes" in it, some of the argument spills out, and it is now a weaker argument.  You can also use a balloon / air analogy - if you poke holes in the balloon, the air escapes, and the person's argument is no longer valid.