hose
Americannoun
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a flexible tube for conveying a liquid, as water, to a desired point.
a garden hose; a fire hose.
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(used with a plural verb) an article of clothing for the foot and lower part of the leg; stocking or sock.
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(of men's attire in former times)
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an article of clothing for the leg, extending from about the knee to the ankle and worn with knee breeches.
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(used with a plural verb) knee breeches.
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(used with a plural verb) tights, as were worn with, and usually attached to, a doublet.
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British Dialect. a sheath, or sheathing part, as that enclosing a kernel of grain.
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Golf. hosel.
verb (used with object)
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to water, wash, spray, or drench by means of a hose (often followed bydown ).
to hose the garden; to hose down the ship's deck.
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Slang.
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to cheat, trick, or take advantage of.
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to defeat decisively.
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to reject.
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Chiefly Military. to attack or assault (an area) in order to gain control quickly (sometimes followed bydown ).
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noun
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stockings, socks, and tights collectively
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history a man's garment covering the legs and reaching up to the waist; worn with a doublet
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socks
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has hosedperfect 3rd person singular
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have hosedperfect
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am hosingprogressive 1st person singular
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are hosingprogressive
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is hosingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been hosingperfect progressive
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has been hosingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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hosessingular 3rd person
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hosingparticiple
Past
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had hosedperfect
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had been hosingperfect progressive
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was hosingprogressive singular
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were hosingprogressive plural
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hosedsimple
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hosedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of hose
before 1100; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch hoos, Old Norse hosa, German Hose; (v.) Middle English: to provide with hose, derivative of the noun
Explanation
A hose is a long plastic or rubber tube that's used for moving a liquid from one place to another. You may use a hose to water your lawn, or to get gas from the pump into your car's tank. Don't use a hose to ingest liquids; use a glass instead. A garden hose is useful for watering plants or washing your car, while firefighters use hoses to spray water on fires. A hose is similar to a pipe, being long, narrow, and hollow, with space for liquid to move through it, although a hose is flexible, and a pipe is commonly made of stiff metal or hard plastic. You can use the word as a verb, meaning "to spray with a hose," or as a noun meaning "sheer stockings."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A giant hose is lifted from the laden ship to the empty one and oil is pumped, sometimes more than a million barrels at a go.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
"A lot of energy systems, power plants have rubber parts. Everybody's had a garden hose that started leaking because a rubber gasket failed. Now imagine that happening in a power plant or a chemical plant."
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
My role as the youngest, was to bring the water hose to water the plants, and my elder sister, Didi’s, was to add soil, and keep the plants happy.
From Salon • May 9, 2026
There's also the question of how effectively policymakers could hose down a financial fire.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
A plume of bright-green gas billowed across the top of the monstrous horde like the spray from a poison riot hose.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
