hoarse meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

hoarse

adj

UK /hɔːs/ · /hoː(ə)ɹs/

Etymology From Middle English hors, hos, from Old English hās, *hārs, from Proto-Germanic *haisaz, *haisraz, akin to Old Norse háss (West Norse) and heiss (East Norse) (whence Icelandic hás, Norwegian Nynorsk hås, Norwegian Bokmål hes and Swedish hes).

Having a dry, harsh tone to the voice, as a result of a sore throat, age, emotion, etc.

I am old and my voice is hoarse […]1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

Derived terms: hoarse as a crow, hoarsely, hoarsen, hoarseness, horse-hoarse merger

hoarse

verb

Uncommon To utter hoarsely; to croak.

"[...] Madame! Is—that—your—horse?!" "Ain't no horse!" she hoarses. "Thassa thuruly bred Great Dane!" The thuruly bred Great Dane's balls shine like big , bald onions as he squeezes to deposit 4 1⁄2 pounds of vitamin - enriched apcray near the lamp-post.1980, Leo Rosten, King Silky!, HarperCollins Children's Books:
"See anything, mum?" she hoarsed. “No—I think it's lower down. Go back to bed, Jane. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Someone's forgotten something, that's all.” She wanted to get rid of Jane without knowing exactly.2022 August 1, J. Jefferson Farjeon, Back to Victoria, DigiCat:

1 more example

"Helene," he croaked, reaching out his arms—his voice tensed with the infinity of his desire. "Back," she iced. And then, "Why have you come here?" she hoarsed. "What business have you here?"2022 September 16, Stephen Leacock, Further Foolishness, DigiCat: