H – Hances

H

H, is the eighth letter of the English Alphabet. It is properly the representative of the Chaldee, Syriac and Hebrew, which is the eighth letter in those alphabets. Its form is the same as the Greek h eta. It is not strictly a vowel, nor an articulation; but the mark of a stronger breathing, than that which precedes the utterance of any other letter. It is pronounced with an expiration of breath, which, preceding a vowel, is perceptible by the ear at a considerable distance. Thus, harm and arm, hear and ear, heat and eat, are distinguished at almost any distance at which the voice can be heard. h is a letter sui generis, but as useful in forming and distinguishing words as any other.

In our mother tongue, the Anglo-Saxon, and other Teutonic dialects, h sometimes represents the Latin c, and the Gr.x; as in horn, Latin cornu, Gr. to hide; G. haut, Sw. hud, D. huid, Dan.hud, Latin cutis; Sax. hlinian, Latin clino, Gr. to lean; Latin celo, to conceal, Sax. helan. G. hehlen, Dan. haeler. In Latin h sometimes represents the Greek x; as in halo, Gr. hio. In the modern European languages, it represents other guttural letters.

In English, h is sometimes mute, as in honor, honest; also when united with g, as in right, fight, brought. In which, what, who, whom, and some other words in which it follows w, it is pronounced before it, hwich, hwat, etc. As a numeral in Latin, h denotes 200, and with a dash over it 200, 000. As an abbreviation in Latin, h stands for homo, haeres, hora, etc.

Ha

HA, an exclamation, denoting surprise, joy or grief. With the first or long sound of a, it is used as a question, and is equivalent to 'What do you say?' When repeated, ha ha it is an expression of laughter, or sometimes it is equivalent to 'Well! it is so.'

Haak

HAAK, noun A fish.

Habeas Corpus, [Latin have the body.] A writ for delivering a person from false imprisonment, or for removing a person from one court to another, etc.

Haberdasher

HAB'ERDASHER, noun A seller of small wares; a word little used or not at all in the U. States.

Haberdashery

HAB'ERDASHERY, noun The goods and wares sold by a haberdasher.

Haberdine

HAB'ERDINE, noun A dried salt cod.

Habergeon

HAB'ERGEON, noun A coat of mail or armor to defend the neck and breast. It was formed of little iron rings united, and descended from the neck to the middle of the body.

Habile

HAB'ILE, adjective Fit; proper. [Not in use.]

Habiliment

HABIL'IMENT, noun [Latin habeo, to have.] A garment; clothing; usually in the plural, habiliments, denoting garments, clothing or dress in general.

Habilitate

HABIL'ITATE, verb transitive To qualify. [Not used.]

Habilitation

HABILITA'TION, noun Qualification. [Not in use.]

Hability

HABILITY. [See Ability.]

Habit

HAB'IT, noun [Latin habitus, from habeo, to have to hold. See Have.]

1. Garb; dress; clothes or garments in general.

The scenes are old, the habits are the same,

We wore last year.

There are among the statues, several of Venus,

in different habits.

2. A coat worn by ladies over other garments.

3. State of any thing; implying some continuance or permanence; temperament or particular state of a body, formed by nature or induced by extraneous circumstances; as a costive or lax habit of body; a sanguine habit

4. A disposition or condition of the mind or body acquired by custom or a frequent repetition of the same act. habit is that which is held or retained, the effect of custom or frequent repetition. Hence we speak of good habits and bad habits.

Frequent drinking of spirits leads to a habit of intemperance. We should endeavor to correct evil habits by a change of practice. A great point in the education of children, is to prevent the formation of bad habits.

Habit of plants, the general form or appearance, or the conformity of plants of the same kind in structure and growth.

HAB'IT, verb transitive To dress; to clothe; to array.

They habited themselves like rural deities.

HAB'IT, verb transitive To dwell; to inhabit.

Habitable

HAB'ITABLE, adjective [Latin habitabilis, from habito, to dwell.]

That may be inhabited or dwelt in; capable of sustaining human beings; as the habitable world. Some climates are scarcely habitable

Habitableness

HAB'ITABLENESS, noun Capacity of being inhabited.

Habitably

HAB'ITABLY, adverb In such a manner as to habitable.

Habitance

HAB'ITANCE, noun Dwelling; abode; residence. [Not now used.]

Habitancy

HAB'ITANCY, noun Legal settlement or inhabitancy. [See Inhabitancy.]

Habitant

HAB'ITANT, noun [Latin habitans.] An inhabitant; a dweller; a resident; one who has a permanent abode in a place.

Habitat

HAB'ITAT, noun Habitation.

Habitation

HABITA'TION, noun [Latin habitatio, from habito, to dwell, from habeo, to hold, or as we say in English, to keep.

1. Act of inhabiting; state of dwelling.

2. Place of abode; a settled dwelling; a mansion; a house or other place in which man or any animal dwells.

The stars may be the habitations of numerous races of beings.

The Lord blesseth the habitation of the just. Proverbs 3:33.

Habitator

HAB'ITATOR, noun [Latin] A dweller; an inhabitant. [Not used.]

Habited

HAB'ITED, adjective Clothed; dressed. He was habited like a shepherd.

1. Accustomed. [Not usual.]

Habitual

HABIT'UAL, adjective Formed or acquired by habit, frequent use or custom.

Art is properly an habitual knowledge of certain rules and maxims.

1. Customary; according to habit; as the habitual practice of sin; the habitual exercise of holy affections.

It is the distinguishing mark of habitual piety to be grateful for the most common blessings.

2. Formed by repeated impressions; rendered permanent by continued causes; as an habitual color of the skin.

Habitually

HABIT'UALLY, adverb By habit; customarily; by frequent practice or use; as habitually profane; habitually kind and benevolent.

Habituate

HABIT'UATE, verb transitive

1. To accustom; to make familiar by frequent use or practice. Men may habituate themselves to the taste of oil or tobacco. They habituate themselves to vice. Let us habituate ourselves and our children to the exercise of charity.

2. To settle as an inhabitant in a place.

HABIT'UATE, adjective Inveterate by custom.

1. Formed by habit.

Habituated

HABIT'UATED, participle passive Accustomed; made familiar by use.

Habituating

HABIT'UATING, participle present tense Accustoming; making easy and familiar by practice.

Habitude

HAB'ITUDE, noun [Latin habitudo, from habitus.]

1. Relation; respect; state with regard to something else. [Little used.]

2. Frequent intercourse; familiarity. [Not usual.]

To write well, one must have frequent habitudes with the best company.

3. Customary manner or mode of life; repetition of the same acts; as the habitudes of fowls or insects.

4. Custom; habit.

Habnab

HAB'NAB, adverb [hap ne hap, let it happen or not.]

At random; by chance; without order or rule.

Hack

HACK, verb transitive

1. To cut irregularly and into small pieces; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument.

2. To speak with stops or catches; to speak with hesitation.

HACK, noun A notch; a cut.

HACK, noun A horse kept for hire; a horse much used in draught, or in hard service; any thing exposed to hire, or used in common. [from hackney.]

1. A coach or other carriage kept for hire. [from hackney.]

2. Hesitating or faltering speech.

3. A rack for feeding cattle.

HACK, adjective Hired.

HACK, verb intransitive To be exposed or offered to common use for hire; to turn prostitute.

1. To make an effort to raise phlegm. [See Hawk.]

Hacked

HACK'ED, participle passive Chopped; mangled.

Hacking

HACK'ING, participle present tense Chopping into small pieces; mangling; mauling.

Hackle

HACK'LE, verb transitive

1. To comb flax or hemp; to separate the coarse part of these substances from the fine, by drawing them through the teeth of a hatchel.

2. To tear asunder.

HACK'LE, noun A hatchel. The latter word is used in the U. States.

1. Raw silk; any flimsy substance unspun.

2. A fly for angling, dressed with feathers or silk.

Hackly

HACK'LY, adjective [from hack.] Rough; broken as if hacked.

In mineralogy, having fine, short, and sharp points on the surface; as a hackly fracture.

Hackmatack

HACK'MATACK, noun The popular name of the red larch, the Pinus microcarpa.

Hackney

HACK'NEY, noun

1. A pad; a nag; a pony.

2. A horse kept for hire; a horse much used.

3. A coach or other carriage kept for hire, and often exposed in the streets of cities. The word is sometimes contracted to hack.

4. Any thing much used or used in common; a hireling; a prostitute.

HACK'NEY, adjective Let out for hire; devoted to common use; as a hackney-coach.

1. Prostitute; vicious for hire.

2. Much used; common; trite; as a hackney author or remark.

HACK'NEY, verb transitive To use much; to practice in one thing; to make

trite.

1. To carry in a hackney-coach.

Hackney-Coach

HACK'NEY-COACH. [See Hackney.]

Hackney-Coachman

HACKNEY-COACHMAN, noun A man who drives a hackney-coach.

Hackneyed

HACK'NEYED, participle passive Used much or in common.

1. Practiced; accustomed.

He is long hackneyed in the ways of men.

Hackneying

HACK'NEYING, participle present tense Using much; accustoming.

Hackneyman

HACK'NEYMAN, noun A man who lets horses and carriages for hire.

Hackster

HACK'STER, noun A bully; a ruffian or assassin.

Hacqueton

HAC'QUETON, noun A stuffed jacket formerly worn under armor, sometimes made of leather. [Not used.]

Had

HAD, preterit tense and participle passive of have; contracted from Sax.haefd, that is, haved; as, I had; I have had In the phrase, 'I had better go, ' it is supposed that had is used for would; 'I'd better go.' The sense of the phrase is, 'it would be better for me to go.'

Hadder

HAD'DER, noun Heath. [Not in use. See Heath.]

Haddock

HAD'DOCK, noun A fish of the genus Gadus or cod, and order of Jugulars. It has a long body, the upper part of a dusky brown color, and the belly of a silvery hue; the lateral line is black. This fish breeds in immense numbers in the northern seas, and constitutes a considerable article of food.

Hade

HADE, noun Among miners, the steep descent of a shaft; also, the descent of a hill.

In mining, the inclination or deviation from the vertical of a mineral vein.

Haft

H'AFT, noun [Latin capio.] A handle; that part of an instrument or vessel which is taken into the hand, and by which it is held and used. It is used chiefly for the part of a sword or dagger by which it is held; the hilt.

H'AFT, verb transitive To set in a haft; to furnish with a handle.

Hafter

H'AFTER, noun A caviller; a wrangler. [Not in use.]

Hag

HAG, noun

1. An ugly old woman; as an old hag of threescore.

2. A witch; a sorceress; an enchantress.

3. A fury; a she-monster.

4. A cartilaginous fish, the Gastrobranchus, which enters other fishes and devours them. It is about five or six inches long, and resembles a small eel. It is allied to the lamprey.

5. Appearances of light and fire on horses' manes or men's hair, were formerly called hags.

HAG, verb transitive To harass; to torment.

1. To tire; to weary with vexation.

Hagard

HAG'ARD, adjective

1. Literally, having a ragged look, as if hacked or gashed. Hence, lean; meager; rough; having eyes sunk in their orbits; ugly.

2. Wild; fierce; intractable; as a hagard hawk.

HAG'ARD, noun

1. Any thing wild and intractable.

2. A species of hawk.

3. A hag.

Hagardly

HAG'ARDLY, adverb In a hagard or ugly manner; with deformity.

Hagborn

HAG'BORN, noun Born of a hag or witch.

Haggard

HAG'GARD, noun A stack-yard.

Haggess

HAG'GESS, noun [from hack.] A mess of meat, generally pork, chopped and inclosed in a membrane.

1. A sheep's head and pluck minced.

Haggle

HAG'GLE, verb transitive To cut into small pieces; to notch or cut in an unskillful manner; to make rough by cutting; to mangle; as, a boy haggles a stick of wood.

Suffolk first died, and York all haggled o'er,

Comes to him where in gore he lay insteep'd.

HAG'GLE, verb intransitive To be difficult in bargaining; to hesitate and cavil. [See Higgle.]

Haggled

HAG'GLED, participle passive Cut irregularly into notches; made rough by cutting; mangled.

Haggler

HAG'GLER, noun One who haggles.

1. One who cavils, hesitates and makes difficulty in bargaining.

Haggling

HAG'GLING, participle present tense Hacking; mangling; caviling and hesitating in bargaining.

Hagiographal

HAGIOG'RAPHAL, noun Pertaining to hagiography, which see.

Hagiographer

HAGIOG'RAPHER, noun [See the next word.] A writer of holy or sacred books.

Hagiography

HAGIOG'RAPHY, noun [Gr. holy, and a writing.]

Sacred writings. The Jews divide the books of the Scriptures into three parts; the Law, which is contained in the five first books of the Old Testament; the Prophets, or Nevim; and the Cetuvim, or writings, by way of eminence. The latter class is called by the Greeks Hagiographa, comprehending the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ruth, Esther, Chronicles, Canticles, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes.

Hagish

HAG'ISH, adjective Of the nature of a hag; deformed; ugly; horrid.

HAG'-RIDDEN, adjective Afflicted with the nightmare.

Hagship

HAG'SHIP, noun The state or title of a hag or witch.

Haguebut

HAGUEBUT. [See Arquebuse.]

Hah

HAH, an exclamation expressing surprise or effort.

Hail

HAIL, noun Masses of ice or frozen vapor, falling from the clouds in showers or storms. These masses consist of little spherules united, but not all of the same consistence; some being as hard and solid as perfect ice; others soft, like frozen snow. Hailstones assume various figures; some are round, others angular, others pyramidical, others flat, and sometimes they are stellated with six radii, like crystals of snow.

HAIL, verb intransitive To pour down masses of ice or frozen vapors.

HAIL, verb transitive To pour.

HAIL, adjective [Gr. whole.] Sound; whole; healthy; not impaired by disease; as a hail body; hail corn. [In this sense, it is usually written hale.]

HAIL, an exclamation, or rather a verb in the imperative mode, being the adjective hail used as a verb. hail be well; be in health; health to you; a term of salutation, equivalent to Latin salve, salvete.

HAIL, hail brave friend.

HAIL, noun A wish of health; a salutation. This word is sometimes used as a noun; as, the angel hail bestowed.

HAIL, verb transitive [Latin calo. See Call and Heal.] To call; to call to a person at a distance, to arrest his attention. It is properly used in any case where the person accosted is distant, but is appropriately used by seamen. Hoa or hoi, the ship ahoay, is the usual manner of hailing; to which the answer is holloa, or hollo. Then follow the usual questions, whence came ye? where are you bound? etc.

Hailed

HA'ILED, participle passive Called to from a distance; accosted.

Hailing

HA'ILING, participle present tense Saluting; calling to from a distance.

1. Pouring down hail.

Hailshot

HA'ILSHOT, noun Small shot which scatter like hailstones. [Not used.]

Hailstone

HA'ILSTONE, noun A single mass of ice falling from a cloud.

Haily

HA'ILY, adjective Consisting of hail; as haily showers.

Hainous

HA'INOUS, adjective Properly, hateful; odious. Hence, great, enormous, aggravated; as a hainous sin or crime.

Hainously

HA'INOUSLY, adverb Hatefully; abominably; enormously.

Hainousness

HA'INOUSNESS, noun Odiousness; enormity; as the hainousness of theft or robbery of any crime.

Hair

HAIR, noun

1. A small filament issuing from the skin of an animal, and from a bulbous root. Each filament contains a tube or hollow within, occupied by a pulp or pith, which is intended for its nutrition, and extends only to that part which is in a state of growth.

When hair means a single filament, it has a plural, hairs.

2. The collection or mass of filaments growing from the skin of an animal, and forming an integument or covering; as the hair of the head. hair is the common covering of many beasts. When the filaments are very fine and short, the collection of them is called fur. Wool, also, is a kind of hair When hair signifies a collection of these animal filaments, it has no plural.

3. Any thing very small or fine; or a very small distance; the breadth of a hair He judges to a hair that is, very exactly.

4. A trifling value. It is not worth a hair

5. Course; order; grain; the hair falling in a certain direction. [Not used.]

You go against the hair of your profession.

6. Long, straight and distinct filaments on the surface of plants; a species of down or pubescence.

Hair-Brained

HA'IR-BRAINED. [See Hare-brained.]

Hair-Breadth

HA'IR-BREADTH, noun [See Breadth.] The diameter or breadth of a hair; a very small distance.

--Seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could

sling stones to a hair-breadth Judges 20:1.

It is used as an adjective; as a hair-breadth escape. But in New England, it is generally hair's breadth.

Hair-Salt

HA'IR-SALT, noun A mixture of the sulphates of magnesia and iron; its taste resembles that of alum.

Hairbell

HA'IRBELL, noun A plant, a species of hyacinth.

Haircloth

HA'IRCLOTH, noun Stuff or cloth made of hair, or in part with hair. In military affairs, pieces of this cloth are used for covering the powder in wagons, or on batteries, or for covering charged bombs, etc.

Hairhung

HA'IRHUNG, adjective Hanging by a hair.

Hairiness

HA'IRINESS, noun [from hairy.] The state of abounding or being covered with hair.

Hairlace

HA'IRLACE, noun A fillet for tying up the hair of the head.

Hairless

HA'IRLESS, adjective Destitute of hair; bald; as hairless scalps.

Hairpin

HA'IRPIN, noun A pin used in dressing the hair.

Hairpowder

HA'IRPOWDER, noun A fine powder of flour for sprinkling the hair of the head.

Hairworm

HA'IRWORM, noun A genus of worms [vermes, ] called Gordius; a filiform animal found in fresh water or in the earth. There are several species.

Hairy

HA'IRY, adjective [from hair.] Overgrown with hair; covered with hair; abounding with hair.

Esau, my brother, is a hairy man. Genesis 27:11.

1. Consisting of hair; as hairy honors.

2. Resembling hair; of the nature of hair.

Hake

HAKE, noun A kind of fish, the Gadus merlucius; called by some authors lucius marinus. It was formerly salted and dried.

Hakot

HAK'OT, noun A fish.

Hal

HAL, in some names, signifies hall.

Halberd

HAL'BERD, noun A military weapon, consisting of a pole or shaft of wood, with a head armed with a steel point, with a cross piece of steel, flat and pointed at both ends, or with a cutting edge at one end, and a bent point at the other. It is carried by sergeants of foot and dragoons.

Halberdier

HALBERDIE'R, noun One who is armed with a halberd.

Halcyon

HAL'CYON, noun hal'shon. [Latin halcyon; Gr. a king-fisher.]

The name anciently given to the king-fisher, otherwise called alcedo; a bird that was said to lay her eggs in nests, on rocks near the sea, during the calm weather about the winter solstice. Hence,

HAL'CYON, adjective Calm; quiet; peaceful; undisturbed; happy. halcyon days were seven days before and as many after the winter solstice, when the weather was calm. Hence by halcyon days are now understood days of peace and tranquility.

Halcyonian

HALCYO'NIAN, adjective Halcyon; calm.

Hale

HALE, adjective Sound; entire; healthy; robust; not impaired; as a hale body.

HALE, noun Welfare. [Not in use.]

HALE, verb transitive To pull or draw with force; to drag. This is now more generally written and pronounced haul, which see. It is always to be pronounced haul.

Half

H'ALF, noun h'af. plural halves, pronoun h'avz.

One equal part of a thing which is divided into two parts, either in fact or in contemplation; a moiety; as half a pound; half a tract of land; half an orange; half the miseries or pleasures of life. It is applied to quantity, number, length, and every thing susceptible of division. In practice, of is often or usually omitted after half We say, half a pound; half a mile; half the number.

Half the misery of life.

H'ALF, verb transitive To divide into halves. [See Halve.]

H'ALF, adverb In part, or in an equal part of degree.

Half loth, and half consenting.

In composition, half denotes an equal part; or indefinitely, a part, and hence, imperfect.

Half-Blooded

H'ALF-BLOODED, adjective Mean; degenerate. [Little used.]

1. Proceeding from a male and female, each of full blood, but of different breeds; as a half-blooded sheep.

Half-Bred

H'ALF-BRED, adjective Mixed; mongrel; mean.

Half-Cap

H'ALF-CAP, noun A cap not wholly put on.

Half-Dead

H'ALF-DEAD, adjective Almost dead; nearly exhausted.

Half-Faced

H'ALF-FACED, adjective Showing only part of the face.

Half-Hatched

H'ALF-HATCHED, adjective Imperfectly hatched; as half-hatched eggs.

Half-Heard

H'ALF-HEARD, adjective Imperfectly heard; not heard to the end.

And leave half-heard the melancholy tale.

Half-Learned

H'ALF-LEARNED, adjective Imperfectly learned.

Half-Lost

H'ALF-LOST, adjective Nearly lost.

Half-Mark

H'ALF-MARK, noun A coin; a noble, or 6s.8d. sterling.

Half-Moon

H'ALF-MOON, noun The moon at the quarters, when half its disk appears illuminated.

1. Any thing in the shape of a half-moon In fortification, an outwork composed of two faces, forming a salient angle, whose gorge is in the form of a crescent or half-moon

Half-Part

H'ALF-PART, noun An equal part.

Half-Pay

H'ALF-PAY, noun Half the amount of wages or salary; as, an officer retires on half-pay

H'ALF-PAY, adjective Receiving or entitled to half-pay; as half-pay officer.

Half-Penny

H'ALF-PENNY, noun hap'penny or ha'penny. A copper coin of the value of half a penny; also, the value of half a penny. It is used in the plural.

He cheats for half-pence.

[This coin is not current in America.]

H'ALF-PENNY, adjective Of the price or value of half a penny; as a half-penny loaf.

Half-Penny-Worth

H'ALF-PENNY-WORTH, noun The value of a half-penny.

Half-Pike

H'ALF-PIKE, noun A small pike carried by officers.

1. A small pike used in boarding ships.

Half-Pint

H'ALF-PINT, noun The half of a pint, or fourth of a quart.

Half-Read

H'ALF-READ, adjective Superficially informed by reading.

Half-Scholar

H'ALF-SCHOLAR, noun One imperfectly learned.

Half-seas over, a low expression denoting half drunk.

Half-Sighted

H'ALF-SIGHTED, adjective Seeing imperfectly; having weak discernment.

Half-Sphere

H'ALF-SPHERE, noun Hemisphere.

Half-Starved

H'ALF-STARVED, adjective Almost starved.

Half-Strained

H'ALF-STRAINED, adjective Half-bred; imperfect.

Half-Sword

H'ALF-SWORD, noun Within half the length of a sword; close fight.

Half-Way

H'ALF-WAY, adverb In the middle; at half the distance.

H'ALF-WAY, adjective Equally distant from the extremes; as a half-way house.

Half-Wit

H'ALF-WIT, noun A foolish person; a dolt; a blockhead.

Half-Witted

H'ALF-WITTED, adjective Weak in intellect; silly; foolish.

Halfblood

H'ALFBLOOD, noun Relation between persons born of the same father or of the same mother, but not of both; as a brother or sister of the halfblood The word is sometimes used as an adjective.

Halfen

H'ALFEN, adjective Wanting half its due qualities. [Not used.]

Halfer

H'ALFER, noun One that possesses half only.

1. A male fallow deer gelded.

Halibut

HAL'IBUT, noun A fish of the genus Pleuronectes, and order of Thoracics. This fish has a compressed body, one side resembling the back, the other the belly; and both eyes on the same side of the head. It grows to a great size; some to the weight of 300 or 400 pounds. It forms an article of food, and some parts of the body are fat, tender and delicious. This fish swims on its side, and hence the name of the genus.

Halidom

HAL'IDOM, noun Adjuration by what is holy.

Haling

HALING. [See Hauling.]

Halituous

HALIT'UOUS, adjective [Latin halitus, breath.] Like breath; vaporous.

Hall

HALL, noun [Latin aula; Heb. a tent, a palace.]

1. In architecture, a large room at the entrance of a house or palace. In the houses of ministers of state, magistrates, etc., it is the place where they give audience and dispatch business.

2. An edifice in which courts of justice are held; as Westminster hall which was originally a royal palace, the kings of England formerly holding their parliaments and courts of judicature in their own dwellings, as is still the practice in Spain.

3. A manor-house, in which courts were formerly held.

4. A college, or large edifice belonging to a collegiate institution.

5. A room for a corporation or public assembly; as a town-hall; Fanueil hall in Boston, etc.

6. A collegiate body in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Halleluiah

HALLELU'IAH, noun [Heb. praise ye Jah or Jehovah, to praise, that is, to throw, or raise the voice, to utter a loud sound; Latin ululo.]

Praise ye Jehovah; give praise to God; a word used in songs or praise, or a term of rejoicing in solemn ascriptions of thanksgiving to God. It is used as a noun, or as an exclamation.

Halliard

HAL'LIARD, noun [from hale, haul.] A rope or tackle for hoisting or lowering a sail.

Hallier

HAL'LIER, noun A particular kind of net for catching birds.

Halloo

HAL'LOO, verb intransitive To cry out; to exclaim with a loud voice; to call to by name, or by the word halloo

Country folks hallooed and hooted after me.

HAL'LOO, verb transitive To encourage with shouts.

Old John hallooes his hounds again.

1. To chase with shouts.

2. To call or shout to.

[This verb is regular, and pronounced with the accent on the first syllable.]

HALLOO', an exclamation, used as a call to invite attention.

Hallooing

HAL'LOOING, participle present tense Crying out; as a noun, a loud outcry.

Hallow

HAL'LOW, verb transitive [Latin calleo, to be able.]

1. To make holy; to consecrate; to set apart for holy or religious use. Exodus 28:38. 1 Kings 8:64.

2. To devote to holy or religious exercises; to treat as sacred.

Hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein. Jeremiah 17:22.

3. To reverence; to honor as sacred.

Hallowed be thy name.

Hallowed

HAL'LOWED, participle passive Consecrated to a sacred use, or to religious exercises; treated as sacred; reverenced.

Hallowing

HAL'LOWING, participle present tense Setting apart for sacred purposes; consecrating; devoting to religious exercises; reverencing.

Hallowmas

HAL'LOWMAS, noun [See Mass.] The feast of All Souls.

Hallucination

HALLUCINA'TION, noun [Latin hallucinatio, from hallucinor, to blunder.]

1. Error; blunder; mistake. [Little used.]

2. In medicine, faulty sense [dysaesthesia, ] or erroneous imagination. Hallucinations of the senses, arise from some defect in the organs of sense, or from some unusual circumstances attending the object, as when it is seen by moonlight; and they are sometimes symptoms of general disease, as in fevers. Maniacal hallucinations arise from some imaginary or mistaken idea. Similar hallucinations occur in revery.

Halm

HALM, noun haum. [Latin culmus.] Straw. [See Haum.]

Halo

HA'LO, noun A circle appearing round the body of the sun, moon or stars, called also Corona, or crown. Halos are sometimes white and sometimes colored. Sometimes one only appears, and sometimes several concentric circles appear at the same time.

Halse

HALSE, noun The neck or throat.

HALSE, verb intransitive hals. To embrace about the neck; to adjure; to greet.

Halsening

HAL'SENING, adjective Sounding harshly in the throat or tongue.

Halser

HALSER, noun hawz'er. A large rope of a size between the cable and the tow-line. [See Hawser.]

Halt

HALT, verb intransitive

1. To stop in walking; to hold. In military affairs, the true sense is retained, to stop in a march. The army halted at noon.

2. To limp; that is, to stop with lameness.

3. To hesitate; to stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do.

How long halt ye between two opinions? 1 Kings 18:21.

4. To fail; to falter; as a halting sonnet.

HALT, verb transitive To stop; to cause to cease marching; a military term. The general halted his troops for refreshment.

HALT, adjective Lame; that is, holding or stopping in walking.

Bring hither the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind. Luke 14:21.

HALT, noun A stopping; a stop in marching.

The troops made a halt at the bridge.

1. The act of limping.

Halter

HALT'ER, noun One who halts or limps.

HALT'ER, noun

1. A rope or strap and head-stall for leading or confining a horse.

2. A rope for hanging malefactors.

3. A strong cord or string.

HALT'ER, verb transitive To put a halter on; as, to halter a horse.

1. To catch and hold, or to bind with a rope or cord.

Halting

HALT'ING, participle present tense Stopping; limping.

Haltingly

HALT'INGLY, adverb With limping; slowly.

Halve

H'ALVE, verb transitive h'av. [from half.] To divide into two equal parts; as, to halve an apple.

Halved

H'ALVED, adjective In botany, hemispherical; covering one side; placed on one side.

Halves

H'ALVES, noun plural of half. Two equal parts of a thing. To cry halves is to claim an equal share. To go halves is to have an equal share.

Ham

HAM, Sax.ham, a house, is our modern word home, G.heim. It is used in hamlet, and in the names of places, as in Walt-ham, wood-house, walt, a wood, and ham a house, [not Wal-tham, as it is often pronounced, ] Bucking-ham, Notting-ham, Wrent-ham, Dur-ham, etc.

HAM, noun The inner or hind part of the knee; the inner angle of the joint which unites the thigh and the leg of an animal. Hence,

1. The thigh of a beast, particularly of a hog, whether salted and cured or not. But the word is more generally understood to mean the thigh of a hog salted and dried in smoke.

Hama

A'MA, or HA'MA, noun

In church affairs, a vessel to contain wine for the eucharist; also, a wine measure, as a cask, a pipe, etc.

Hamadryad

HAM'ADRYAD, noun [Gr. together, and a tree.] A wood nymph, feigned to live and die with the tree to which it was attached.

Hamate

HAM'ATE, adjective [Latin hamatus.] Hooked; entangled.

Hamated

HAM'ATED, adjective [Latin hamatus, from hama, a hook.]

Hooked or set with hooks.

Hamble

HAM'BLE, verb transitive To hamstring. [Not used.]

Hame

HAME, noun plural hames. A kind or collar for a draught horse, consisting of two bending pieces of wood or bows, and these placed on curving pads or stuffed leather, made to conform to the shape of the neck.

Hamite

HAM'ITE, noun The fossil remains of a curved shell.

Hamlet

HAM'LET, noun A small village; a little cluster of houses in the country.

This word seems originally to have signified the seat of a freeholder, comprehending the mansion house and adjacent buildings. It now denotes a small collection of houses in the country, in distinction from a city, a large town or township.

The country wasted and the hamlets burned.

Hamleted

HAM'LETED, adjective Accustomed to a hamlet, or to a country life.

Hammer

HAM'MER, noun An instrument for driving nails, beating metals, and the like. It consists of an iron head, fixed crosswise to a handle. Hammers are of various sizes; a large hammer used by smiths is called a sledge.

HAM'MER, verb transitive To beat with a hammer; as, to hammer iron or steel.

1. To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.

2. To work in the mind; to contrive by intellectual labor; usually with out; as, to hammer out a scheme.

HAM'MER, verb intransitive To work; to be busy; to labor in contrivance.

1. To be working or in agitation.

Hammer-Man

HAM'MER-MAN, noun One who beats or works with a hammer.

Hammer-Wort

HAM'MER-WORT, noun An herb.

Hammerable

HAM'MERABLE, adjective That may be shaped by a hammer.

Hammercloth

HAM'MERCLOTH, noun The cloth which covers a coach-box, so called from the old practice of carrying a hammer, nails, etc. in a little pocket hid by this cloth.

Hammered

HAM'MERED, participle passive Beaten with a hammer.

Hammerer

HAM'MERER, noun One who works with a hammer.

Hammerhard

HAM'MERHARD, noun Iron or steel hardened by hammering.

Hammering

HAM'MERING, participle present tense Beating with a hammer; working; contriving.

Hammite

HAMMITE. [See Ammite.]

Hammoc

HAM'MOC, noun A kind of hanging bed, suspended between trees or posts, or by hooks. It consists of a piece of hempen cloth about six feet long and three feet wide, gathered at the ends and suspended by cords. It forms a bed, or a receptacle for a bed, on board of ships.

Hamous

HAM'OUS, [Latin hamus, a hook.] Hooked; having the end hooked or curved; a term of botany.

Hamper

HAM'PER, noun [contracted form hanaper, or from hand pannier.]

1. A large basket for conveying things to market, etc.

2. Fetters, or some instrument that shackles.

[This signification and that of the verb following indicate that this word is from hanaper, and that the latter is from the sense of interweaving twigs.]

HAM'PER, verb transitive [See the Noun.] To shackle; to entangle; hence, to impede in motion or progress, or to render progress difficult.

A lion hampered in a net.

1. To ensnare; to inveigle; to catch with allurements.

2. To tangle; to render complicated.

3. To perplex; to embarrass.

Hampered by the laws.

Hampered

HAM'PERED, participle passive Shackled; entangled; ensnared; perplexed.

Hampering

HAM'PERING, participle present tense Shackling; entangling; perplexing.

Hamster

HAM'STER, noun A species of rat, the Mus cricetus, or German marmot. This rat is of the size of the water rat, but is of a browner color, and its belly and legs of a dirty yellow. It is remarkable for two bags, like those of a baboon, on each side of the jaw, under the skin, in which it conveys grain, peas and acorns to its winter residence.

Hamstring

HAM'STRING, noun The tendons of the ham.

HAM'STRING, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive hamstrung or hamstringed.

To cut the tendons of the ham, and this to lame or disable.

Han

HAN, for have, in the plural.

Hanaper

HAN'APER, noun The hanaper was used in early days by the kings of England, for holding and carrying with them their money, as they journeyed from place to place. It was a kind of basket, like the fiscus, and hence came to be considered as the king's treasury. Hence, the clerk or warden of the hanaper is an officer who receives the fees due to the king for seals of charters, patents, commissions, and writs. There is also an officer who is controller of the hanaper This word therefore answered to the modern exchequer.

Hance

HANCE, HAUNCE, for enhance. [See Enhance.]

Hances

HAN'CES, noun plural [Latin ansa.] In architecture, the ends of elliptical arches, which are the arches of smaller circles than the scheme or middle part of the arch.

1. In a ship, falls of the fife-rails placed on balusters on the poop and quarter-deck down to the gangway.