
habit | habit: n. 1 custom, routine, practice, convention, policy, pattern, usage, mode, rule, wont, praxis: Jogging every morning had become a habit. She is a creature of habit. 2 tendency, disposition, manner, practice, way, custom, inclination, bent, predisposition, second nature, frame of mind, attitude, penchant, propensity, proclivity; addiction, compulsion: This kettle has a habit of leaking. Try to control your bad habits. 3 attire, clothing, dress, apparel, clothes, garb, costume, garments, vestments, uniform, raiment, livery, regalia, habiliment(s), Colloq gear: She was disguised in a monk''s habit.
habitable | habitable: adj. liveable, inhabitable: With some effort, two rooms were made habitable.
habitat | habitat: n. abode, home, haunt, domain, range, territory, bailiwick, realm, terrain, element, environment, surroundings, Colloq stamping-ground: The winter habitat of the monarch butterfly is in northern Mexico. Curtis doesn''t function well outside his natural habitat.
habitual | habitual: adj. 1 settled, fixed, customary, usual, conventional, accustomed, set, rooted, established, traditional, standard, routine, ritual, regular, normal, wonted, common, ordinary, natural: He follows his habitual practice of rising at dawn. 2 inveterate, established, chronic, confirmed, hardened, ingrained, frequent, persistent, constant, continual, perpetual: Many English people are habitual tea-drinkers.
habitu� | habitu�: n. frequenter, patron, regular customer, Colloq regular: Larry has been a habitu� of The Bell Inn for 20 years.
hack� | hack�: v. 1 chop, hew, lacerate, gash, slash, cut; mangle, butcher, mutilate, ruin, destroy, smash, batter, damage, deface: He hacked the furniture to pieces with an axe. 2 bark, cough: She was disgusted by the man''s hacking and spitting. --n. 3 cut, gash, slash, chop: He took a hack at the log with his hatchet.
hack� | hack�: n. 1 drudge, penny-a-liner, scribbler, Grub Street writer: We made a mistake hiring that hack as a feature writer. 2 plodder, drudge, toiler, menial, flunkey, lackey, slave, Brit fag, Slang grind, Brit swot: Fergus gets good grades because he''s such a hack. 3 saddle-horse, riding-horse, hackney, Archaic palfrey: The hack was a fine bay mare. --adj. 4 hackneyed, trite, banal, overdone, commonplace, routine, stereotyped, stock, tired, tedious, mediocre, overworked, stale, unoriginal, run-of-the-mill, humdrum, moth-eaten, mouldy, Colloq old hat: Haverstock keeps publishing hack romances.
hag | hag: n. crone, fury, witch, ogress, gorgon, harpy, fishwife, harridan, shrew, virago, termagant, vixen, hell-cat, maenad or menad, Xanthippe, Archaic beldam; dog, beast, monster; Colloq battleaxe, Slang bitch, bag, US two-bagger: Perseus met the Graeae, three old hags with one eye that they passed among them.
haggard | haggard: adj. gaunt, drawn, wasted, emaciated, hollow-eyed, hollow-cheeked, scrawny, scraggy, ghastly, cadaverous, run-down, wearied, weary, careworn, spent, played out, exhausted, toil-worn, worn, shrunken, withered: She looked haggard, as if she hadn''t slept for a week.
haggle | haggle: v. wrangle, bargain, higgle, bicker, chaffer, palter, dispute, squabble, quibble, negotiate; barter, deal; Colloq US dicker: However little you ask for the lamp, she''s sure to haggle over the price.
hail� | hail�: v. 1 greet, accost, address, signal, call: Robert hailed us from across the road. 2 cheer, salute, applaud, approve, glorify, praise, laud, honour, acclaim, congratulate, felicitate, acknowledge: He was hailed by all for his charitable work.
hail� | hail�: v. 1 rain or beat or shower (down) on, bombard, pelt, volley, barrage: Rocks and debris hailed down on us from the cliffs above. --n. 2 volley, storm, shower, torrent, bombardment, barrage: They were greeted by a hail of abuse when they entered the meeting hall.
hair | hair: n. 1 tresses, locks, mane, curls, ringlets; braids, plaits: You will recognize her by her red hair. 2 hair''s breadth, whisker, trifle, fraction, skin of one''s teeth: He won the race by a hair.
hairdo | hairdo: n. coiffure, hairstyle, cut, coif: Your hairdo is very becoming.
hairless | hairless: adj. bald, bald-headed, bald-pated, glabrous, calvous: She finds hairless men rather sexy.
hair-splitting | hair-splitting: adj. quibbling, (over-)fussy, hypercritical, petty, captious, carping, fault-finding, finicky, (over)nice, fastidious, cavilling, niggling, Colloq nit-picking: His hair-splitting attention to detail gets on my nerves.
hairy | hairy: adj. 1 hirsute, shaggy, downy, fleecy, fluffy, woolly, lanate or lanose, lanuginous or lanuginose, bristly, setaceous, setal, hispid, comate or comose, fringy, crinite, trichoid, strigose or strigous, strigillose; whiskered, bewhiskered, bearded, barbate, unshaven: The creature had a very hairy face. 2 tricky, dangerous, perilous, risky, uncertain, precarious, hazardous, frightening, worrying, nerve-racking or nerve-wracking, Colloq scary: The situation at the office has become very hairy. 3 tangled, intricate, knotty, complex, complicated, difficult, problematic, confused, confusing: The exam contained some hairy questions.
hale | hale: adj. healthy, hearty, fit (as a fiddle), sound, able-bodied, hardy, wholesome, robust, flourishing, in good or fine fettle, in the pink: Her grandmother was as hale and hearty as ever.
half-hearted | half-hearted: adj. indifferent, uncaring, unconcerned, lukewarm, uninterested, dispassionate, cool, unenthusiastic, half-baked, nonchalant, phlegmatic, lackadaisical, insouciant: The council has made only a half-hearted effort to solve the problem.
halfwit | halfwit: n. dunce, fool, idiot, simpleton, ninny, ass, ninny-hammer, moron, imbecile, dolt, dunderhead or dunderpate, rattle-brain, nincompoop, dullard, Colloq numskull or numbskull, nitwit, dim-wit, birdbrain, Brit nit, twit: He''s such a halfwit, he can hardly expect me to give him a job!
halfwitted | halfwitted: adj. stupid, foolish, silly, simple, inane, asinine, moronic, imbecilic, doltish, rattle-brained, feeble-minded, attocerebral, cretinous, thick, non compos mentis, dim-witted, weak-minded, Colloq dumb, Brit dotty, barmy (in the crumpet): She had some halfwitted idea that she would win the lottery.
hall | hall: n. 1 corridor, hallway, passageway, passage; foyer, entry, entry-way, lobby, vestibule: Let us step out into the hall for a brief word. 2 auditorium, assembly or meeting or convention hall, theatre, amphitheatre, hired hall; lecture-room, lecture-hall, classroom: We hired a hall for the wedding reception.
hallmark | hallmark: n. 1 authentication, verification, seal or stamp (of authenticity or approval), mark, device, sign, symbol; plate-mark; assay-mark: From this hallmark we know when and where the piece was made, by whom, and its degree of purity. Surprise endings are the hallmark of O. Henry''s short stories. 2 feature, stamp, mark, earmark, trade mark, characteristic, identification: From his hallmark, a tiny axe, you can tell that the painting is a genuine Fellworthy.
hallow | hallow: v. 1 consecrate, bless, sanctify, dedicate, honour, enshrine, glorify: Englishmen look upon this battlefield as hallowed ground. 2 venerate, worship, revere, reverence, respect, honour, pay homage or respect or honour to, exalt: We must observe the hallowed traditions of the university.
hallucination | hallucination: n. fantasy, mirage, day-dream, illusion, delusion, vision, dream, aberration, chimera, phantasm, phantom, figment of the imagination, apparition, spectre, ghost; par�sthesia: Alone at sea for a fortnight, I began having hallucinations.
halo | halo: n. nimbus, aura, aureole or aureola, corona, radiance, Painting vesica, mandorla; ring, disc, circle, annulation, annulus: The saints can be identified by the golden halos round their heads.
halt | halt: n. 1 stop, standstill, end, termination, close, stoppage, cessation: We must call a halt to absenteeism in the factory. --v. 2 stop, quit, end, terminate, cease, check, curb, stem, discontinue, desist, bring or come or draw to an end or close, put an end or stop to, conclude, shut or close down or up: We halted when we came to the river. The guerrillas halted the armoured column at the pass.
halting | halting: adj. hesitant, hesitating, wavering, shifting, uneven, faltering, stumbling, faulty, unsteady, awkward, stammering, stuttering: He told her in halting English that there was no news of her friend.
hamper� | hamper�: v. slow, balk or baulk, delay, hold up, retard, inhibit, encumber, hinder, obstruct, block, impede, prevent, interfere with, frustrate, restrict, curb, limit, handicap, restrain, trammel, bar, barricade, shackle, clog, curtail, lessen, reduce, diminish: Ice floes hampered their further progress.
hamper� | hamper�: n. basket, pannier, creel, Brit punnet; hanaper, Dialectal skep: A hamper arrived from Fortnum''s, packed full of delicacies such as foie gras and peaches in brandy.
hand | hand: n. 1 Slang mitt, paw, US lunch-hook: Keep your hands off me, you oaf! 2 help, aid, assistance, helping hand, relief, boost; leg up: Please give me a hand with this trunk. 3 influence, agency, participation, involvement, part, share: Did you have a hand in my getting the appointment? 4 (manual) labourer, worker, workman, man, help, employee: It''s getting harder to find hands for the farm. 5 pointer, indicator, index: The minute hand covers the hour hand at noon and midnight. 6 (round of) applause, ovation, clap: Give the lad a hand for trying. 7 handwriting, penmanship, script; calligraphy: The writing was in a hand that she could not recognize. 8 Often, hands. control, hold, grasp, possession, custody, clutches, keeping, power, disposal, jurisdiction, authority, supervision, management, guardianship, care: At last, the government is in the hands of the people. 9 at hand. nearby, close, near, close by, handy, (readily) available, to or on hand, at one''s fingertips, convenient, within (arm''s) reach, accessible, present; approaching, imminent, around the corner: He always kept a pistol at hand. The Day of Judgement is at hand. 10 hand in glove. hand in hand, in league, together, in collusion, collusively, connivingly, conspiringly, intimately, closely, jointly, Colloq in cahoots: An informer is working hand in glove with the police. 11 hand in hand. together, side by side, hand in glove: They walked hand in hand down the road. 12 hand-over-fist. quickly, speedily, rapidly, swiftly, steadily, like mad: He makes money hand-over-fist in the stock market. 13 hands down. easily, readily, effortlessly: He can win the marathon hands down. --v. 14 give, pass, deliver, present to or with: Please hand me the hammer. 15 hand down or on or over. a bequeath, will, pass on; transfer, turn over: The farm has been handed down from father to son for seven generations. b See 18 (a), below. 16 hand in. submit, give in, tender, proffer, offer: I handed in my resignation. 17 hand out. distribute, disseminate, pass out or round or around, give out, deal (out), mete or dole out, dispense; disburse: She was handing out leaflets to passers-by. 18 hand over. a deliver, submit, yield, give up, surrender, turn over; transfer: The man produced a gun and told the cashier to hand over the money. b See 15 (a), above.
handcuffs | handcuffs: n.pl. manacles, shackles, Colloq cuffs, bracelets, Slang Brit darbies: The police put handcuffs on them all.
handful | handful: n. 1 few, couple, sprinkling, small number; fistful: Only a handful of restaurants are open that late. He gave the beggar a handful of change. 2 (behaviour or disciplinary) problem, bother, mischief-maker, troublemaker, nuisance: Timothy was a real handful when he was five.
handicap | handicap: n. 1 hindrance, restraint, encumbrance, restriction, limitation, impediment, barrier, bar, obstacle, (stumbling) block, constraint, check, curb, trammel, disability, disadvantage: Did Douglas Bader view the loss of his legs as a handicap? --v. 2 hinder, hamper, restrain, encumber, restrict, limit, impede, bar, block, check, curb, trammel, disable, disadvantage: He was severely handicapped by the loss of his sword.
handily | handily: adv. 1 readily, easily, effortlessly, without strain, comfortably, with both hands tied (behind one''s back): Donald handily won the first prize in the poetry competition. 2 skilfully, capably, deftly, cleverly, dexterously, adroitly, expertly, proficiently, masterfully: I could never do that intricate work as handily as she.
handle | handle: n. 1 grip, hilt, handgrip, haft, helve: Hold it by the handle, not the blade. --v. 2 feel, touch, finger, hold; caress, fondle, pat: Be careful how you handle that knife. 3 manage, run, operate, direct, administer, supervise, oversee, control, command, guide: At the age of 26, she was handling all foreign business for the company. 4 steer, control, manage, cope with, manoeuvre, manipulate: Are you sure he can handle that horse? 5 deal or trade or traffic in, (buy and) sell, market: The gang was found to be handling stolen goods worth millions every month. 6 treat, control, deal with, cope with: She handled the customers with the utmost tact and respect. 7 treat, employ, use, utilize; deal with, wield, tackle, manipulate: Don''t you admire how she handled the perspective in this painting?
handsome | handsome: adj. 1 good-looking, fine-looking, attractive, fair, comely: He''s handsome enough to be a movie star. 2 generous, sizeable, large, big, substantial, considerable, good, goodly, ample, abundant: She has made a handsome profit on the painting.
handy | handy: adj. 1 nearby, accessible, available, at or on or to hand, close (by), convenient, at one''s fingertips, within (easy) reach, (at the) ready: Because of the recent break-ins, she keeps a pistol handy. 2 usable, serviceable, manoeuvrable, clever, useful, helpful, practical: A pair of pliers and a screwdriver are the handiest tools. 3 deft, clever, dexterous, adroit, adept, skilled, skilful, proficient, expert: Aunt Sara is very handy with a needle and thread.
hang | hang: v. 1 suspend, depend, dangle; be poised or suspended, hover, swing: Hang the lantern from this branch. The laundry was hanging on the line. 2 gibbet, send to the gallows, lynch, execute, kill, Colloq string up, stretch: They hanged two murderers this morning. 3 drape, fall: The skirt isn''t hanging straight. 4 hang about or around. a loiter, wait, linger, dally, idle, tarry , Colloq hang out: He hangs about after school every day, waiting for Susan. b Also, hang about or around (with). frequent, haunt, visit, spend time at; associate with, socialize with, hobnob with, rub elbows with, consort with, fraternize with, mix or mingle with, Colloq hang out (with): He hangs about the Golden Crown. I saw him hanging around with some pretty unsavoury characters. 5 hang back (from). be reluctant, recoil (from), shrink (from), hesitate, falter, stay away (from): Move to the front of the queue and don''t hang back. 6 hang fire. be delayed, remain unsettled or unfinished, be in suspense or abeyance; stall, hold up, delay: The decision will hang fire till after the election. 7 hang on. a Also, hang on to. hold on (to), cling (to), clutch, grip, grasp, grab: Hang on to me when we''re crossing the street. b wait, stay, stop: Hang on a minute - what did you call me? c wait, persist, remain, carry on, persevere, go on, hold out, endure, hold the phone, Colloq US hang in there: Hang on a minute, I have to put down the phone to get a pencil. d Also, hang on to or upon. listen carefully or attentively, give one''s undivided attention, be rapt: She hung on every word the guru uttered. e depend or rely (on), be dependent or contingent (on), be subject (to), be conditioned or conditional (on): The entire project now hangs on their approval of the budget. 8 hang one''s head. be ashamed or humiliated or abashed or humbled or embarrassed: She hung her head as the store detective confronted her with the stolen goods. 9 hang out. See 5 (a), above. 10 hang over. be put off or postponed or delayed: We must first deal with matters hanging over from our last meeting. 11 hang together. a unite, be united, be as one, stick together, join forces, cooperate, act in concert or harmony: We must hang together or we shall hang separately. b make sense, be logical, be consistent, correspond, match (up), cohere, be coherent: The statements issued yesterday and today just don''t hang together. 12 hang up. break the connection, disconnect, cut off, put down the receiver: Whenever a salesman phones, I simply hang up.
hanger-on | hanger-on: n. follower, dependant, leech, parasite, toady, sycophant, yes-man, Colloq scrounger, US freeloader, Slang groupie, sponger or sponge: The rock star came in, surrounded by his hangers-on.
hangman | hangman: n. executioner, Archaic Brit Jack Ketch: The hangman, a black hood concealing his identity, slipped the noose over the prisoner''s head.
hanker | hanker: v. Usually, hanker after or for. yearn for, long for, thirst after or for, hunger after or for, itch for, pine for, lust after or for, covet, crave, have a hankering for, want, desire, fancy, Colloq have a yen for: She hankered after a big box of chocolates.
hanky-panky | hanky-panky: n. mischief, trickery, double-dealing, legerdemain, deception, duplicity, chicanery, naughtiness, foolishness, tomfoolery, Colloq funny business, jiggery-pokery, monkey business, shenanigans, goings-on, antics: He''d best not try any of his hanky-panky with the tax inspector.
haphazard | haphazard: adj. 1 random, arbitrary, chance, fortuitous, aleatory, accidental, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unexpected, adventitious, serendipitous: Her fate was to be decided by a haphazard throw of the dice. 2 casual, offhand, hit-or-miss, unsystematic, slapdash, slipshod, careless, disorganized, disorderly: He took some haphazard shots at the target.
happen | happen: v. 1 occur, take place, come about, go on, come to pass, develop; betide, chance, prove, materialize, Colloq transpire, come off, Slang cook: What is happening? As it happens, everyone has already left. 2 befall, become of: What will happen to me if I refuse? 3 happen on or upon. come upon, chance or hit on or upon, stumble on or upon, find, turn up, encounter, meet with: It was then that I happened on an old letter of his.
happening | happening: n. event, incident, occurrence, occasion, taking place, circumstance, chance, episode, phenomenon: Such a conjunction of the planets is a very rare happening.
happily | happily: adv. 1 fortunately, luckily, propitiously, providentially, opportunely: Happily, she made a full recovery and was soon back at work. 2 joyfully, joyously, delightedly, gleefully, cheerily, cheerfully, gaily, merrily, blithely; enthusiastically, heartily: She waved happily as they drove off. 3 gladly, with pleasure, agreeably, contentedly, willingly, peaceably: And they both lived happily ever after.
happiness | happiness: n. pleasure, delight, felicity, enjoyment, joy, joyousness, joyfulness, jubilation, cheerfulness, cheeriness, cheer, blithesomeness, gladness, light-heartedness, exhilaration, elation, exuberance, high spirits, glee, ecstasy: My happiness at seeing you again was unbounded.
happy | happy: adj. 1 pleased, delighted, glad, joyous, joyful, overjoyed, jubilant, cheerful, cheery, blithe, blithesome, glad, light-hearted, contented, exhilarated, exultant, cock-a-hoop, elated, exuberant, thrilled, gleeful, euphoric, ecstatic, satisfied, gratified, Colloq on top of the world, on cloud nine, pleased as Punch, tickled pink, Brit in the seventh heaven, over the moon, US in seventh heaven: Her parents were happy that Georgina was married at last. 2 lucky, fortuitous, propitious, fortunate, auspicious, advantageous, beneficial, favourable, felicitous, opportune, timely, well-timed, apt, appropriate: By a happy chance, we were in Bermuda at the same time.
harangue | harangue: n. 1 diatribe, tirade, oration, peroration, declamation, philippic, screed, exhortation, vituperation, rodomontade, speech, address, Colloq spiel: This morning he delivered a ten-minute harangue on the weakness of the coffee. --v. 2 declaim, hold forth, preach, lecture, sermonize, pontificate, vituperate, rant and rave: Our neighbour is always haranguing her husband about trimming the hedges.
harass | harass: v. badger, harry, hector, trouble, torment, bother, exasperate, hound, plague, persecute, vex, annoy, irritate, pester, worry, beset, bait, nag, pick on or at, tease, torture, Brit chivvvy or chivy or chevy: The police harass me by turning up at all hours for ''help with their inquiries''.
harbinger | harbinger: n. forerunner, herald, precursor, omen, foretoken, sign, portent, augury: The crowing cock is the harbinger of dawn.
harbour | harbour: n. 1 port, (safe) haven, anchorage, mooring: We sailed into the harbour just as the storm broke. --v. 2 shelter, keep safe, protect, shield, guard, safeguard, conceal, hide: They were found guilty of harbouring a known fugitive. 3 cherish, foster, nurture, nurse, keep, retain, maintain, hold, cling to: She harbours a grudge against whoever set the fire.
hard | hard: adj. 1 rigid, stiff, solid, inflexible, firm, dense, condensed, compressed, close, solidified, hardened; stony, rocklike, concrete, petrified, granite(-like), flinty, steely; tough, rugged, leathery, callous; unyielding, adamant(ine), impenetrable, obdurate, impervious, impregnable: The cement gets hard in an hour. This steak is as hard as shoe-leather. The metal was so hard that I broke three drills trying to make a hole in it. 2 difficult, laborious, arduous, back-breaking, burdensome, onerous, fatiguing, tiring, exhausting, wearying, strenuous, tough, toilsome: Laying track for the railway is a very hard job. 3 difficult, perplexing, knotty, puzzling, baffling, enigmatic, intricate, complicated, complex, tangled, involved, thorny, incomprehensible, inscrutable, unsolvable, insoluble, Colloq tough: There were a lot of hard questions in the exam. 4 stern, cold, callous, intractable, exacting, strict, demanding, hard-hearted, stony-hearted, severe, tyrannical, despotic, dictatorial, magisterial, oppressive, cruel, ruthless, pitiless, merciless, savage, brutal, brutish, inhuman, heartless, harsh, unkind, implacable, unsympathetic, dispassionate, uncompassionate, unfeeling, obdurate, indurate; unsentimental, insensitive, thick-skinned, tough, hard-boiled, stony, hardbitten, unfeeling, unsparing: Hemel is a hard taskmaster. Of the prison warders, each was harder than the next. He advocates taking a hard line against white-collar crime. 5 bad, difficult, grievous, calamitous, racking, disastrous, dark, grim, distressing, devastating, agonizing, painful, unpleasant, severe, austere, Colloq tough, rough: The years of the Great Depression were hard for everyone. 6 cool, unemotional, calculating, uncompromising, methodical, critical, systematic, practical, pragmatic, businesslike, realistic, penetrating, searching, hard-headed, Colloq tough, hard-nosed: Shareholders should take a hard look at the annual report. Chapelle drives a hard bargain. 7 sedulous, assiduous, devoted, conscientious, industrious, indefatigable, untiring, persistent, dogged, intent, eager, zealous, ardent, energetic, keen, avid: Galpin is a very hard worker who gets a lot done. 8 cold, bare, plain, straight, straightforward, blunt, unvarnished, unquestionable, verifiable, real, indisputable, undeniable, incontestable, incontrovertible, strict, inescapable, ineluctable, unavoidable, unalterable, immutable: The hard fact is that the bill has never been paid. 9 angry, bitter, acrimonious, hostile, antagonistic, harsh, unpleasant, unfriendly: I''m afraid there were some hard words between us. 10 spirituous, alcoholic, strong: She won''t touch hard liquor. 11 addictive, habit-forming: He later changed from marijuana to hard drugs. 12 sharp, well-defined, clear, distinct, stark, definite: Note the hard edges of objects in Realist paintings. --adv. 13 vigorously, forcefully, forcibly, energetically, mightily, arduously, laboriously, strenuously, earnestly, actively, dynamically, eagerly, intensely, ardently, heartily, zealously, intently, spiritedly, diligently, assiduously, sedulously, studiously, determinedly, steadfastly, conscientiously, industriously, devotedly, urgently, persistently, untiringly, indefatigably, perseveringly, unfalteringly, relentlessly, doggedly: They always had to work very hard just to scrape by. He''s hard at work writing his new book. 14 violently, deeply, intensely, badly, distressingly, painfully, severely, agonizingly: Failing the examination hit him quite hard. 15 intently, carefully, earnestly: The judge thought long and hard before passing sentence. 16 harshly, severely, badly, ill: It''s going to go hard with her if she doesn''t change her ways. 17 hard up. poor, indigent, poverty-stricken, impoverished, penniless, impecunious, bankrupt, Colloq in the red, broke, bust(ed), on one''s uppers, Slang Brit skint: He''s so hard up he can''t afford a decent meal.
harden | harden: v. 1 set, solidify, stiffen, freeze: The concrete will harden overnight. 2 intensify, strengthen, brace, fortify, toughen, reinforce, stiffen: The opposition have hardened their stand against privatization.
hardly | hardly: adv. scarcely, barely, only, just, only just; not quite, by no means; seldom, rarely: I hardly knew her. There was hardly enough to eat. He hardly ever visits his old mum any more.
hardship | hardship: n. want, privation, deprivation, suffering, misery, distress, affliction, adversity, austerity, misfortune, unhappiness, ill fortune, bad luck, difficulty, trouble: The hardship of frontier life has never been fully described.
hardware | hardware: n. 1 tools, metal goods, Brit ironmongery: Go down to the hardware shop for some nails. 2 (computer) equipment, components, devices, machinery; arms, munitions, armament(s), mat�riel: We need the personnel to operate the hardware.
hardy | hardy: adj. 1 robust, sturdy, strong, rugged, tough, durable, sound, stalwart, stout, vigorous, able-bodied, red-blooded, fit, hale, healthy, Colloq husky: The pioneers were hardy souls. 2 bold, courageous, daring, valorous, valiant, brave, manly, intrepid, fearless, heroic, plucky: He was among the hardy sailors who went with Magellan.
hare-brained | hare-brained: adj. 1 rash, foolhardy, wild, madcap, reckless, heedless, improvident, visionary, fanciful, airy, Colloq crackpot: Don''t put money into any of Zenobia''s hare-brained schemes. 2 foolish, silly, inane, asinine, flighty, witless, brainless, mindless, giddy, frivolous, scatterbrained: Such hare-brained behaviour is not expected in two sober adults.
harm | harm: n. 1 injury, damage, mischief, hurt, abuse, misfortune: A bodyguard was hired to see that no harm would come to her. 2 evil, wrongdoing, wickedness, iniquity, wrong, badness: I meant no harm when I told Phoebe that her husband was having dinner with Kathy. --v. 3 hurt, damage, injure, abuse, maltreat, wound: She insists that her pet viper would never harm her.
harmful | harmful: adj. dangerous, pernicious, deleterious, destructive, damaging, bad, detrimental, injurious; unhealthy, noxious, baleful, toxic, poisonous, venomous, Archaic baneful: Do you really think that Barbara has had a harmful influence on him? That substance can be harmful if swallowed.
harmless | harmless: adj. benign, innocuous, inoffensive, gentle, mild, innocent, safe; non-toxic, non-poisonous, non-venomous: Pay no attention to such harmless gossip. It is impossible to identify harmless snakes by sight.
harmonious | harmonious: adj. agreeable, compatible, congruous, consonant, in accord, congenial, complementary, sympathetic, concordant, Colloq simpatico: Our careers have always been harmonious.
harmony | harmony: n. 1 agreement, accord, concord, compatibility, rapport, unanimity, unity: The purpose is to promote harmony among the warring factions. 2 consonance, congruity, balance, orderliness, closeness, togetherness, consistency, fitness, parallelism: A sense of harmony can be felt among the European nations. 3 melodiousness, euphony, tunefulness: Their voices are in perfect harmony.
harrowing | harrowing: adj. distressing, vexing, alarming, unnerving, frightening, terrifying, horrifying, horrible, torturous, chilling, heart-rending, nerve-racking or nerve-wracking, traumatic, agonizing, painful; disturbing, upsetting, worrying, worrisome, disconcerting, daunting, dismaying, disquieting: Waiting for the rescue team to release me was a harrowing experience.
harsh | harsh: adj. 1 rough, coarse, bristly, scratchy, hairy, crude; hoarse, grating, raucous, rasping, husky, guttural; clashing, inharmonious or unharmonious, discordant, atonal, dissonant, cacophonous, strident, shrill, grinding, sour; bitter, sour, acrid: He found harsh the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the Casbah. 2 stern, austere, bleak, dour, unkind, unfeeling, comfortless, uncompassionate, unfriendly, grim, hard, Spartan, stringent, over-exacting, Draconian, tyrannical, stark, severe, cruel, abusive, punishing, punitive, brutal, brutish, inhuman, merciless, ruthless, pitiless: Simon is a very harsh taskmaster. 3 unpleasant, disagreeable, impolite, discourteous, uncivil, rude, nasty, curt, abrupt, brusque, bluff, gruff, curmudgeonly, choleric, splenetic, surly, sullen, irascible, short-tempered, petulant, peevish, waspish, grouchy, bilious, cross, acrimonious, sarcastic, acerbic: Why is Maria so harsh to Alan?
harvest | harvest: n. 1 crop, yield, produce, output, fruit; vintage: If we get enough rain, the harvest should be good this year. --v. 2 reap, gather, pick, glean, collect: The oranges are harvested while they are still greenish. 3 earn, make, take in, collect, garner, get, receive, obtain, procure, net: They harvest huge profits from slot machines.
hash | hash: n. 1 mixture, confusion, hotchpotch or US and Canadian hodgepodge, pot-pourri, gallimaufry, farrago, mishmash, jumble, mess, shambles, olla podrida, m�lange, medley: The building is a hash of a dozen architectural styles. 2 fiasco, disaster, botch, mess, Slang Brit balls-up, US snafu: The council really made a hash of its housing policy. --v. 3 Often, hash up. mangle, mess or mix up, make a hash or mess or jumble of, muddle, bungle, botch, mishandle, mismanage, ruin, spoil, butcher, Colloq foul or louse up, screw up, muff, Brit bugger up: Our plans for a holiday have been all hashed up.
haste | haste: n. 1 swiftness, rapidity, quickness, speed, velocity, expedition, urgency, dispatch or despatch, alacrity, celerity, briskness: We must return to Baker Street with all haste, Watson. 2 hurry, rush, rashness, hastiness, hustle, bustle, impetuousness or impetuosity, recklessness, precipitancy: Haste makes waste.
hasten | hasten: v. 1 hurry, rush, make haste, fly, run, sprint, race, bolt, dash, scurry, scamper, scuttle, speed: He hastened forward to greet her. 2 hurry (up), speed (up), dispatch or despatch, send, move, quicken, accelerate, expedite, rush, impel, urge: Is there any way to hasten delivery of the mail?
hastily | hastily: adv. 1 quickly, speedily, swiftly, rapidly, at once, immediately, instantaneously, promptly, without delay, right away, straight away, post-haste, hurriedly, directly, suddenly, in haste, precipitately, on the spur of the moment, in a flash or wink, before you can say ''Jack Robinson'', Colloq pronto, like a shot, like greased lightning, US lickety-split, Slang p.d.q. (= ''pretty damned quick''): She left hastily when I asked for the return of the loan. 2 impetuously, impulsively, rashly, recklessly, unthinkingly, thoughtlessly, heedlessly, incautiously: This is a trick question, so don''t answer hastily.
hasty | hasty: adj. 1 quick, speedy, swift, rapid, fast, brisk, prompt, immediate, instantaneous: He made a hasty departure so as not to be late. 2 careless, rash, precipitate, impetuous, impulsive, reckless, thoughtless, unthinking, incautious, heedless, ill-considered, inconsiderate: His was a hasty decision. 3 quick, speedy, cursory, superficial, fleeting, passing, slapdash, perfunctory, momentary, brief: I had a hasty look at the contract, which seemed all right. 4 irritable, quick-tempered, irascible, testy, passionate, impatient, hot-tempered, petulant, waspish, volatile, contentious, choleric, splenetic, bearish, short-tempered, US and Canadian and Irish cranky: Grandfather needn''t have been so hasty with the poor child.
hatch | hatch: v. 1 breed, brood, incubate, bring forth: The normal clutch of three eggs is hatched in a fortnight. 2 devise, contrive, concoct, design, formulate, originate, invent, dream up, Colloq cook up: Two of them hatched a scheme to discredit me.
hate | hate: v. 1 loathe, abhor, detest, have an aversion to, be averse to, abominate, dislike, execrate, despise, scorn: I hate the smell of petrol, it really turns my stomach. 2 be loath, be reluctant or unwilling or disinclined; resist, shrink or flinch from, dislike, shrink from: I hate to tell you what I really think. She hated revealing Bill''s affair to his wife. --n. 3 hatred, abhorrence, loathing, odium, animosity, animus, antipathy, aversion, hostility, antagonism, malice, enmity, detestation: He didn''t believe he could feel so much hate for one person.
hateful | hateful: adj. 1 loathsome, detestable, abhorrent, horrid, horrible, abominable, odious, execrable, despicable, scurvy, obnoxious, heinous, foul, contemptible, repugnant, repulsive, repellent, revolting, vile: No vice is universally so hateful as ingratitude. 2 malignant, malefic, malevolent, malicious, evil, mean, spiteful, contemptuous: She gave me a hateful glance.
haughty | haughty: adj. arrogant, proud, superior, self-important, smug, self-satisfied, complacent, pretentious, conceited, egotistical, snobbish, overbearing, lofty, presumptuous, overweening, patronizing, supercilious, vain, condescending, contemptuous, belittling, derisive, disdainful, scornful, Colloq highfalutin or hifalutin, hoity-toity, stuck-up, swell-headed or swelled-headed or swollen-headed, high and mighty, on (his or her) high horse, snooty, la-di-da or lah-di-dah or la-de-da, Slang snotty, uppish, uppity: She''s too haughty to have made any friends here.
haul | haul: v. 1 drag, pull, tug, tow, trail, lug, heave, draw: Are you sure that one horse can haul that load? 2 cart, transport, carry, convey, truck, move: The new vehicles are equipped to haul bulk dry goods. --n. 3 pull, tug, drag, draw; heave; attraction: The tides are greater under the haul of both sun and moon. 4 catch, take, yield, harvest, bag: We returned with quite a good haul of cod.
haunt | haunt: v. 1 visit, frequent, hang about or around, spend time at, US habituate: She haunts the yacht club, waiting for her ship to come in. 2 beset, obsess, plague, torment, trouble, possess, prey on: He is haunted by the fear that she told the police everything. --n. 3 gathering-place, meeting-place, stamping-ground, Colloq hang-out: She returned to Abergavenny to visit the haunts of her youth.
have | have: v. 1 possess, own, keep; maintain: Imelda had more shoes than you could count. 2 receive, take, accept, get, obtain, acquire, procure, secure, take: How many gifts did you say she had from him? 3 entertain, be struck by: I have an idea! 4 possess, bear, contain, include, comprise: The night has a thousand eyes. 5 suffer with or from, be suffering with or from, be experiencing, be undergoing, be enduring, be subjected to: My daughter was really ill when she had measles. 6 arrange, organize, set up, prepare; hold: If I have a party, will you come? We shall have our next meeting on Saturday. 7 partake of, participate in, experience, enjoy; eat; drink: I hope you have a good time. 8 give birth to, bear, deliver, bring into the world; beget, sire, father: She had three children in as many years. How many children has he had? 9 make, demand; force, oblige, cause, induce, press, require, compel: We''ll have the caterers come at noon. 10 had better or best. ought to, must, should: I had better not drink as I''m driving. 11 had rather or sooner. prefer to, would rather or sooner: I''d rather be with you. 12 have on. a be wearing, be dressed or clothed or attired in: I''ll have on the silk nightgown you like so much. b be committed to, have planned, have in the offing, have on the agenda: I have something on next Tuesday evening. c trick, tease, deceive, pull (someone''s) leg, play a joke on, fool: Do you really love me or are you having me on?
havoc | havoc: n. 1 ruin, devastation, destruction, desolation, rack or wrack and ruin, despoliation, spoliation, damage: Gales of more than 80 m.p.h. wreaked havoc right across the British Isles. 2 confusion, chaos, upset, disorder, mayhem, shambles, disruption: The railway slow-down created havoc with commuter schedules.
hazard | hazard: n. 1 peril, danger, risk, endangerment, threat, jeopardy: The greatest hazard in sailing single-handed round the world is the loneliness. 2 chance, gamble, uncertainty, luck, fortune: They banned all games that depended on hazard. --v. 3 venture, dare; gamble, risk, jeopardize, endanger, threaten, imperil, stake: May I hazard a guess as to the origin of the word? He hazarded his entire fortune on the turn of a card.
hazardous | hazardous: adj. unsafe, risky, fraught with danger, questionable, shaky, dangerous, precarious, uncertain, unpredictable, parlous, ticklish, tricky, Colloq chiefly Brit dicey, dicky or dickey, Slang hairy: It took three months to make the hazardous overland journey in those days.
hazy | hazy: adj. 1 misty, foggy, smoggy, cloudy, overcast: It was so hazy that we couldn''t see the town a mile away. 2 indistinct, blurred, blurry, dull, dim, faint, nebulous, vague, unclear, fuzzy, indefinite, muddled: He has only a hazy idea of the plot.
