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haw

intj, verb, noun — 11 senses

haw

intj

UK /hɔː/ · US /hɔː/

Etymology From Middle English ha (interjection). Compare Old Norse há (interjection), Middle Low German ha, hā (interjection), Old High German aha, hei (interjection).

1

An imitation of laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often doubled or tripled (haw haw or haw haw haw).

  • You think that song was good? Haw!
  • The bitter laugh laughs at that which is not good, it is the ethical laugh. The hollow laugh laughs at that which is not true, it is the intellectual laugh. Not good! Not true! Well well. But the mirthless laugh is the dianoetic laugh, down the snout — Haw! — so.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
2

An intermission or hesitation of speech, with a sound somewhat like "haw"; the sound so made.

  • Hums or haws.1720, William Congreve, An Impossible Thing:
Derived terms
gee and haw, gee haw whimmy diddle, haw-haw, hee-haw, hee haw, yaw-haw, yee-haw

haw

verb

Etymology From Middle English ha (interjection). Compare Old Norse há (interjection), Middle Low German ha, hā (interjection), Old High German aha, hei (interjection).

1

To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw; to speak with interruption and hesitation.

Derived terms
hum and haw, hem and haw

haw

noun

Etymology From Middle English hawe, from Old English haga (“enclosure, hedge”), from Proto-Germanic *hagô (compare West Frisian haach, Dutch haag, German Hag (“hedged farmland”), Norwegian Bokmål hage (“garden”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰom (compare Welsh cae (“field”), Latin caulae (“sheepfold, enclosure”), cohum (“strap between plowbeam and yoke”), Russian кош (koš, “tent”), коша́ра (košára, “sheepfold”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣa, “curtain wall”)), from *kagʰ- 'to catch, grasp' (compare Welsh cau (“to clasp”), Oscan kahad (“may he seize”).

1

Fruit of the hawthorn.

  • The kanary-nut may be considered equal to a hazel-nut, but I have met with nothing else superior to our crabs, our haws, beech-nuts, wild plums, and acorns; fruits which would be highly esteemed by the natives of these islands, and would form an important part of their sustenance.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 103:
2

Historical A hedge.

3

Obsolete Something that has little value or importance; a whit or jot.

  • wele not leaue a man of lawe, Nor a paper worth a hawe, And make him worſe than a dawe, That ſhall ſtand againſt Iacke Strawe.1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act II:
Derived terms
apple haw, black haw, crimson haw, downy haw, Haw Creek, Haweater, hawthorn, haw tree, hog's haw, mayhaw, parsley haw, pear haw, possum haw, possumhaw, purple haw, red haw, rose haw, scarlet haw, Shawnee haw, summer haw, swamp haw

haw

intj

Etymology Assumed to be interjectory, but compare Old English hawian (“to observe, look”)

1

An instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver, typically left.

haw

verb

Etymology Assumed to be interjectory, but compare Old English hawian (“to observe, look”)

1

Of an animal To turn towards the driver, typically to the left.

  • This horse won't haw when I tell him to.
2

To cause (an animal) to turn left.

  • You may have to go to the front of the pack and physically haw the lead dog.
Derived terms
gee haw whimmy diddle, haw and gee, haw and gee about

haw

noun

Etymology Late Middle English (denoting a discharge from the eye), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Etymology 2 above, describing a berry.

1

Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences The third eyelid, or nictitating membrane.

2

A disease of the nictitating membrane.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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