hawk
Ware hawk; the word to look sharp, a bye-word when a bailiff passes. Hawk also signifies a sharper, in opposition to pigeon. See PIGEON. See WARE HAWK.
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hawkers
Licensed itinerant retailers of different commodities, called also pedlars; likewise the sellers of news-papers. Hawking; an effort to spit up the thick phlegm, called OYSTERS: whence it is wit upon record, to ask the person so doing whether he has a licence; a punning allusion to the Act of hawkers and pedlars.
Hawks will not pick out Hawk's eyes
People with similar interests or characteristics do not harm each other
hawse holes
The apertures in a ship’s bows through which the cables pass; "he has crept in through the HAWSE-HOLES," said of an officer who has risen from the grade of an ordinary seaman, whose original position in the vessel was forward—before the mast.—Navy.
hay bag
A woman.
haymarket hectors
Bullies who, in the interest of prostitutes, affect the neighbourhood of Leicester Square and the Haymarket.
haymarket theatre
So great was its popularity that a club called "The Hurlo-Thrumbo Society" was formed.
hazard a guess
make an educated guess
hazard creep
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
haze
To confuse and annoy a subordinate by contradictory, unnecessary, and perplexing orders.
hazed
Drunk.
hazlitt’s
(William) Table Talk, 12mo, (vol. ii. contains a chapter on Familiar Style, with a notice on Slang terms.)
hazy
Intoxicated, also dull and stupid.
ha’porth o’ coppers
Habeas Corpus.—Legal slang.
ha’porth o’ liveliness
The music at a low concert, or theatre. Also a dilatory person.
he bit his glove
He resolved on mortal revenge. On the Border, to bite the glove was considered a pledge of deadly vengeance. Stern Rutherford right little said, But bit his glove and shook his head.
he brushed by me
He just touched me as he went quickly past. Hence also brush, a slight skirmish.
He complains wrongfully at the sea that suffer shipwreck twice. (Strauss, 1994 p. 898)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
he eats no fish
An Elizabethan way of say- ing that he is an honest man and one to be trusted, because he is not a papist. Roman Catholics were naturally opposed to the Government, and Protestants, to show their loyalty, refused to adopt their ritual custom of eating only fish on Fridays.
he fleshed his sword
Used it for the first time. Men fleshed in cruelty — i.e. initiated or used to it. A sportsman's expression. A sports- man allows a young dog or hawk to have the first game it catches for its own eating, thus at the same time rewarding it and encouraging its taste for blood. This "flesh" is the first it has tasted, and fleshing its tooth thus gives the creature a craving for similar food.
he gives twice who gives in a trice
Someone who gives promptly is more generous than someone who gives the same amount later
he had need rise early who would please everybody
It is impossible to satisfy everyone's expectations
he has a green bonnet
Has failed in trade. In France it used to be customary, even in the 17th century, for bankrupts to wear a green bonnet (cloth cap).
he has a screw loose
He is not quite compos mentis, he's a little mad. His mind is like a piece of machinery that needs adjusting — it won't work properly.
he has a tile loose
He is not quite compos mentis, not all there. In Freemasonry, to tile a lodge means to close and guard the doors to prevent anyone uninitiated from entering, the officer who does this being called the Tiler, sometimes spelled tyler.
he has an axe to grind
Some selfish motive in the background; some personal interest to answer. Franklin tells of a man who wanted to grind his axe, but had no time to turn the grindstone. Going to the yard where he saw young Franklin, he asked the boy to show him how the machine worked, kept praising him till his axe was ground, and then laughed at him for his pains.
he has been everything by turns
Vole is a deal at cards that draws the whole tricks. To vole is to win all the tricks.
he has cut his eye-teeth
He is "wide awake," quite sophisticated; he has "his weather-eye open." The eye-teeth (i.e.
he has eaten mandrake
Said of a very indolent and sleepy man, from the narcotic and stupefying properties of the plant, well known to the ancients.
he has got his pennyworth
He has got good value for his money; sometimes said of one who has received a good drubbing.
he has not all his buttons
He is half-silly; "not all there"; he is "a button short.
he has quite lost his head
He is so excited and confused that he does not know the right thing to do.
he has seen a wolf
Something or other has frightened him; formerly said of a person who had lost his voice. Our forefathers believed that if a man saw a wolf before the wolf saw him, he became dumb, at least for a time.
he has supped all his porridge
Eaten his last meal; he is dead. Keep your breath to cool your porridge. A rude remark made to one who is giving un- wanted or unsought advice.
he has undone her girdle
Taken her for his wife. The Roman bride wore a chaplet of flowers on her head, and a girdle of sheep's wool about her waist. A part of the marriage ceremony was for the bridegroom to loose this.
he is a fool that forgets himself. (14th century)
Someone who acts foolishly or shamelessly
he is a regular flat-fish
A dull, stupid fellow. The play is upon flat (stupid), and such fish as plaice, dabs, and soles.
he is come to his autumn
A colloquialism which may mean that he has entered on his period of (natural or induced) decay.
he is coming round
Recovering from sick- ness; recovering from a fit of the sulks; returning to friendship; he is coming round to my way of thinking, he is beginning to think as I do.
he is gone to the bad
Has become a ruined man, or a depraved character. He is mixing with bad companions, has acquired bad habits, or is (usually implying "through his own fault") in bad circumstances.
he is in the clouds
In dreamland; enter- taining visionary notions and so having no distinct idea about the matter in question.
he is my friend that succoreth me, not he that pitieth me
A friend is one who helps, not just feels sorry for you
he is my friend who grinds at my mill
A person who helps or supports me is considered a friend
he is my right hand
My principal assistant, my best and most trustworthy man.
he is off the hooks
Done for, laid on the shelf, superseded, dead. The bent pieces of iron on which the hinges of a gate rest and turn are called hooks.
he is very much run down
Very out of sorts ; in need of a thorough rest and overhauling, like a clock that has run down.
he is worth his weight in gold. (16th century)
Someone extremely valuable or helpful
he knows what's what
He is a shrewd fellow not to be imposed on. One of the senseless questions of logic was Quid est quid?
he laughs best who laughs last
The person who ultimately succeeds or achieves their goal is the one who deserves to laugh
he makes a rod for his own back. (14th century)
He creates a problem for himself
He may remove Mortstone
A Devonshire proverb, said incredulously of husbands who pretend to be masters of their wives. It also means, "If you have done what you say, you can accomplish anything.
he nicked it
Won, hit, accomplished it. A nick is a winning throw of dice in the old game of "hazard.
he or she
Used to refer to a person without specifying their gender
he played his cards well
He acted judici- ously and skilfully, like a whist-player who plays his hand with judgment.
he shot wide of the mark
He was altogether in error. The allusion is to shooting at the mark or bull's-eye of a target.
He that can have patience can have what he will. (Strauss, 1994 p. 87)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
he that goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing
Borrowing money often leads to trouble and regret
He that hath a head of wax must not walk in the sun. (Ward, 1842 p. 54)
One who is easily influenced should avoid temptation
he that is worst may still hold the candle
Even the least capable person can still contribute or assist
He that leaves certainty and sticks to chance, When fools pipe, he may dance
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
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