1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. I., ch. iii. ‘The game’s spoiled
this time, Rob Rust, anyhow,’ growled one, in an angry tone; ‘the
hawks are upon us, and we must leave this brave buck to take care
of himself.’
Verb (old).—See quots.
1589. Nashe, Anatomie, Whereas, by their humming and hawking ...
they have leisure to gesture the mislike of his rudeness.
1600. Shakspeare, As You Like It, v., 3. Shall we clap into ’t
roundly, without hawking, or spitting, or saying we are hoarse?
1604. Marston, Malcontent, ii., 2. Is he troubled with the cough of
the lungs still? Does he hawke a night’s?
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. ... Also spitting difficulty.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. ... 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 license, a punning
allusion to the act of hawkers and pedlars.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xlvi. This tremendous volley of
superlatives which Sampson hawked up from the pit of his stomach.
1822. Byron, Vision of Judgment, xc. To cough and hawk, and hem,
and pitch His voice into that awful note of woe.
Ware Hawk! phr. (old).—A warning; look sharp! See subs. sense 2.
d. 1529. Skelton, Ware Hawk (Title).
1625. Jonson, Staple of News, v. 2. See! the whole covey is
scattered; ware, ware the hawks!
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hawk, ware hawk, the word to look
sharp, a bye-word when a bailiff passes.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. iii. Ware hawk! Douse the Glim.
To hawk one’s meat, verb. phr. (common).—To peddle one’s charms, i.e.,
to show a great deal of neck and breasts. Fr., montrer sa viande.
Hawk-a-mouthed, adj. phr. (old).—See quot.
c. 1750. Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect (Palmer, 1839) s.v. One
that is perpetually hawking and spitting; also foul-mouthed.
Hawker, subs. (old: now recognized).—A pedlar.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hawkers. Retail News-Sellers.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hawkers, licensed itinerant
retailers of different commodities, called also pedlars; likewise
the sellers of newspapers.
Hawking, verb. subs. (old: now recognised).—Peddling; offering small
wares for sale from door to door. Also see quot. 1690.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hawking, going about Town and
Country with Scotch-Cloth, etc., or News-Papers: also Spitting
difficultly.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
Hawk-eye State, subs. phr. (American).—Iowa. [After the famous Indian
chief.]
Hawse. To fall athwart one’s hawse, verb. phr. (nautical).—To obstruct;
to fall out with; to counter and check.
Hawse-holes. To come (or creep) in through the hawse-holes, verb. phr.
(nautical).—To enter the service at the lowest grade; to rise from the
forecastle.
1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. viii. His kind and considerate
captain was aware that a lad who creeps in at the hawse-holes,
i.e., is promoted from before the mast, was not likely to be
favourably received in the midshipmen’s mess.
1889. Chambers’ Journal, 3 Aug., 495. A sailor who rose from the
ranks was formerly said to have crept through the hawse-holes.
Hay. To make hay, verb. phr. (University).—To throw into confusion; to
turn topsy-turvy; to knock to pieces in argument or single combat.
Also, to kick up a row.
1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. vii. The fellows were mad with
fighting too. I wish they hadn’t come here and made hay afterwards.
To dance the hay, verb. phr. (old).—See quot.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. To Dance the Hay. To make Hay
while the Sun Shines, or make good use of one’s Time.
Hay-bag, subs. (thieves’).—A woman. [I.e., something to lie upon.] For
synonyms, see Petticoat. Fr., une paillaisse.
1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. I., p. 231,
q.v.
Hay-band, subs. (common).—A common cigar. For synonyms, see Weed.
1864. Glasgow Herald, 9 Nov., q.v.
Haymarket-hector, subs. (old).—A prostitute’s bully. See Hector.
c. 1675. Marvell, Cutting of Sir John Coventry’s Nose, vi. O ye
Haymarket Hectors!
Haymarket-ware, subs. (common).—A common prostitute. For synonyms, see
Barrack-hack and Tart.
Hay-pitcher (or Hay-seed), subs. (American).—A countryman. Cf.,
Gape-seed.
1851. Herman Melville, Moby Dick, p. 36 (ed. 1892). Ah! poor
hayseed.
1888. New York World. ‘I wouldn’t hev come into his shop if I had
known it,’ protested the imitation hay-pitcher.
1888. Detroit Free Press, Sept. Al. (to hayseed)—Ever read Ouida?
H.—No, but by golly I must get his books. The weeds in my garden
are raisin’ eternal tarnation.
1890. Norton, Political Americanisms, p. 53. Hayseeds—rustics. The
‘hayseed delegation’ in a State legislature is supposed to consist
of farmers or their representatives.
1890. Judge, ‘Christmas No.’, p. 31. Them two fellers ... has been
passin’ d’rog’tory remarks about that hayseed’s ears.
1893. Clark Russell, Life of the Merchant Sailor, in Scribner’s,
xiv, 8. Hired by the State to court the hayseed to the tenders.
Hays! intj. (American).—An injunction to be gone; git (q.v.).
1851. Judson, Mysteries of New York, ch. i., p. 12. Cut and run, my
darling! Hays! is the word, and off you go.
Haze, subs. (American).—Bewilderment; confusion; fog (q.v.).
Verb (American).—1. To play tricks or practical jokes; to frolic.
Hence, Hazing. Also to mystify or Fog (q.v.).
1848. N. Y. Com. Adv., 2 Dec. W. had been drinking, and was hazing
about the street at night, acting somewhat suspiciously or
strangely [when the officer arrested him].
1887. Lippincott’s Mag., July, p. 105. This and the Dyke are the
only approaches to hazing that I have ever heard of here.
1888. Philadelphia Bulletin, 27 Feb. So woman is completing her
conquest of the planet. She rows. She smokes. She preaches. She
hazes. She shoots. She rides.
1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 39. In some
of the studios at that date, the hazing of new pupils was both
barbarous and obscene.
2. (nautical).—To harass with overwork or paltry orders. Also to find
fault.
1840. R. H. Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, ch. viii. Haze is a
word of frequent use on board ship, and never, I believe, used
elsewhere. It is very expressive to a sailor, and means to punish
by hard work. Let an officer once say ‘I’ll haze you,’ and your
fate is fixed. You will be ‘worked up,’ if you are not a better man
than he is.
1852. Bristed, Upper Ten Thousand, p. 205. Here I have been five
days ... hazing—what you call slanging—upholsterers.
1883. Stevenson, Treasure Island, ch. xi., p. 89 (1886). I’ve had
a’most enough o’ Cap’n Smollett; he’s hazed me long enough, by
thunder!
1889. Notes and Queries, 7 S. viii., 31 Aug. My old partner, who
served his time at sea, always spoke of giving a man ‘a good
hazing’ when he meant he had been finding fault with his doings,
etc.
Hazel-geld, verb. (old).—See quots.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hazel-geld, to Beat any one
with a Hazle-Stick or Plant.
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hazle-gild, to beat anyone with a
hazle stick.
Hazy, adj. (old: now recognised).—1. See quot.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hazy Weather, when it is Thick,
Misty, Foggy.
2. (common).—Stupid with drink; mixed (q.v.). For synonyms, see Drinks
and Screwed.
1824. T. Hook, Sayings and Doings, 1st. S. ‘Friend of the Family,’
p. 179. One night at a public-house I was foolish enough to brag.
Hazy, Sir—you understand? smoking and drinking.
1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. ‘Lay of S. Cuthbert.’ Stamp’d on
the jasey As though he were crazy, And staggering about just as if
he were hazy.
He, subs. (Charterhouse).—A cake. A young he = a small cake. See She.
Head, subs. (nautical).—1. A man-of-war’s privy.
2. (common).—The obverse of a coin or medal. Heads or tails? = Guess
whether the coin spun will come down with head uppermost or not. [The
side not bearing the Sovereign’s head has various devices: Britannia,
George and the Dragon, a harp, the Royal arms, an inscription, etc.—all
included in the word ‘tail,’ i.e., the reverse of ‘head.’ The Romans
said heads or ships?]
d. 1680. Butler, Remains (1759), ii., 431. Let his chance prove
what it will, he plays at cross you lose, and pile you win.
1871. Observer, 16 Apr. Perhaps for the first time Parliament is
asked to enjoin a settlement of public dispute by means of tossing
heads or tails, ‘cross or pile.’