hackle
Pluck; "to show HACKLE," to be willing to fight. HACKLES are the long feathers on the back of a cock’s neck, which he erects when angry,—hence the metaphor.
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hackney writer
One who writes for attornies or booksellers.
hackslaver
To stammer in one’s speech, like a dunce at his lesson.
hackum
Captain Hackum; a bravo, a slasher.
had better
should do something to avoid trouble or problems
had'em
He has been at Had'em, and came home by Clapham; said of one who has caught the venereal disease.
hades was stern and terrible
Legend says that as she was amusing herself in the meadows of Sicily Pluto seized her and carried her off in his chariot to the infernal regions for his bride. In her terror she dropped some of the lilies she had been gathering, and they turned to daf- fodils.
hag
A woman.
haggart
Life of David Haggart, alias John Wilson, alias Barney M’Coul, written by himself while under sentence of death, curious frontispiece of the prisoner in irons, intermixed with all the Slang and Cant words of the day, to which is added a Glossary of the same, 12mo. 1821.
Haif Joe
A Portuguese coin (worth about $4), current on the Atlantic coast of the U.S.A. in the 18th century.
hail and farewell
A greeting and goodbye at the same time
hail fellow well met
One on easy, familiar terms; an intimate acquaintance. Hail fellow well met, all dirty and wet; Find out, if you can, who's master, who's man. SWIFT: My Lady's Lamentation.
hair of the dog
A small amount of alcohol consumed to alleviate a hangover
hair out of place
completely perfect or immaculate
Hair Stane
A hoar-stone (#.v.) is so called in Scotland, Hajar al-Aswad (ha/ jaral as' wad). The fa- mous black stone in the north-east corner of the Kaaba; it is an irregular oval, about 7 in. in breadth, and is surrounded with a circle of gold. The legend is that when Abraham wished to build the Kaaba, the stones came to him of their own accord, and the patriarch commanded all the faithful to kiss this one.
hair's breadth
a very small distance or amount
hair-breadth 'scape
A very narrow escape from some danger or evil. In measurement the forty-eighth part of an inch is called a "hair- breadth.
hairy canary
The penis.
hairy molly
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
halbert
A weapon carried by a serjeant of foot. To get a halbert; to be appointed a serjeant. To be brought to the halberts; to be flogged a la militaire: soldiers of the infantry, when flogged, being commonly tied to three halberts, set up in a triangle, with a fourth fastened across them. He carries the halbert in his face; a saying of one promoted from a serjeant to a commission officer.
Halcyon Bays
A time of happiness and-prosperity. Halcyon is the Greek for a kingfisher, compounded of hah (the sea) and kup (to brood on). The ancient Sicilians be- lieved that the kingfisher laid its eggs and incubated for fourteen days, before the winter solstice, on the surface of the sea, during which time the waves of the sea were always un- ruffled.
halcyon days
A period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful
hale and hearty
Strong and healthy, both physically and mentally
half a brain
a small amount of intelligence
half a grunter
A sixpence.
half a head
slightly smarter or more intelligent
half a loaf is better than no bread
Something is better than nothing
Half a mile from St
David's is a Logan stone, mounted on divers other stones, which may be shaken with one finger.
half a mind
To be almost decided or inclined to do something
half an hour
a period of thirty minutes
half bound
Leather back and corners, with cloth or paper sides.
half is more than the whale
This is what Hcsiod said to his brother Perseus, when he wished him to settle a dispute without going to law. He meant ",half of the estate without the expense of law will be better than the whole after the lawyers have had their pickings.'* The remark, however, has a very wide signification.
half joke
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
half lit
drunk
half murder
to exhaust or nearly kill someone with work or effort
half the battle
Half determines the battle. Thus, "The first stroke is half the battle," that is, the way in which the battle is begun determines what the end will be.
half-a-bull
Two shillings and sixpence.
half-a-hog
Sixpence; sometimes termed HALF-A-GRUNTER.
half-a-stretch
Six months in prison.
half-and-half
A mixture of ale and porter, much affected by medical students; occasionally Latinized into "dimidium dimidiumque." Cooper is HALF-AND-HALF, made of stout and porter. The term of HALF-AND-HALF is also applied to the issue of marriages between gipsies and "white people."
half-baked
Soft, doughy, half-witted, silly. HALF-ROCKED has a similar meaning.
half-foolish
Ridiculous; means often wholly foolish.
half-mast high
The position, of a flag flying from the middle of the flagstaff in token of respect to a dead person.
half-mourning
To have a black eye from a blow. As distinguished from "whole-mourning," two black eyes.
half-night stand
A brief, casual romantic encounter
half-rocked
Silly, half-witted. Derived from a vulgar idea that in the Westcountry children are nursed in a peculiar manner, which in afterlife affects their wits. They are said to be nursed bottom upwards, so as to sleep without much rocking. If this is inconsequent it is the fault of the saying and not of the dictionary. Compare HALF-BAKED.
half-seas over
Midway between one condition and another: now usually applied to a person slightly drunk.
half-seas-over
Reeling drunk.—Sea. Used by Swift.
half-tone block
A typographic printing- block for illustrations, produced by photo- graphing on to a prepared plate through a screen or grating which breaks up the picture of the object to be reproduced into small dots of varying intensity, thus giving the lights and shades, or tones.
halfway decent
Acceptable or satisfactory, though not excellent
hall
THE, Leadenhall Market, among folk who get their livings there, in the same way as "The Garden" refers to Covent Garden.
Hall Mark
The official mark stamped on gold and silver articles after they have been assayed, so called because the assaying or testing and the stamping was done at the Goldsmiths'
Hall Sunday
The Sunday preceding Shrove Tuesday; the next day is called Hall Monday or Hall Night. Shrove Tuesday is also called Pancake Day, and the day preceding it, Callop Monday, from the special foods popularly prepared for those days. All three were days of merrymaking. Hafl is a contraction of Hallow, meaning holy or festal.
Hallelujah Lass
A name given to female members of the Salvation Army in the early days of that movement.
Hallelujah Victory
A victory said to have been gained by some newly baptized Britons over the Picts and Scots near Mold, Flintshire in 429. They were led by Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and commenced the battle with loud shouts of "Hallelujah!
halliwell’s
Archaic Dictionary, 2 vols. 8vo. 1855.
hallmark moment
A moment that is quintessentially sentimental or emotionally significant
hall’s
(B.H.) Collection of College Words and Customs, 12mo. Cambridge (U.S.), 1856.
Ham Actor
A bad actor, especially one who over-acts or performs his part in a stiff and stilted fashion. The origin of the term is uncertain; it may arise from the delusion such bad actors often entertain that they can perform that most difficult of parts — Hamlet.
ham and eggs
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
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