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hose

[hohz]
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noun, plural hose for 2, 3; hos·es for 1, 4, 5; (Archaic) hos·en [hoh-zuh n] /ˈhoʊ zən/.
  1. a flexible tube for conveying a liquid, as water, to a desired point: a garden hose; a fire hose.
  2. (used with a plural verb) an article of clothing for the foot and lower part of the leg; stocking or sock.
  3. (of men's attire in former times)
    1. an article of clothing for the leg, extending from about the knee to the ankle and worn with knee breeches.
    2. (used with a plural verb)knee breeches.
    3. (used with a plural verb)tights, as were worn with, and usually attached to, a doublet.
  4. British Dialect. a sheath, or sheathing part, as that enclosing a kernel of grain.
  5. Golf. hosel.
verb (used with object), hosed, hos·ing.
  1. to water, wash, spray, or drench by means of a hose (often followed by down): to hose the garden; to hose down the ship's deck.
  2. Slang.
    1. to cheat, trick, or take advantage of.
    2. to defeat decisively.
    3. to reject.
    4. Chiefly Military.to attack or assault (an area) in order to gain control quickly (sometimes followed by down).

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
Related formshose·less, adjectivehose·like, adjectiveun·hosed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hosen

Historical Examples

  • He hath been in here to consult us as to his patches, hosen, and I know not what beside.

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • These (with hosen and fan (faes)) are the only plurals in n preserved in Northern English.

    The Bruce

    John Barbour

  • Drawers was hose, or hosen,now applied to the lining for trousers.

  • Down the hill they come in hosen and their saddles are but light, And loose their girths.

    The Lay of the Cid

    R. Selden Rose

  • I met the young damsel yesterday, and I think she wore no hosen.

    Maid Sally

    Harriet A. Cheever

British Dictionary definitions for hosen

hose1

noun
  1. a flexible pipe, for conveying a liquid or gas
verb
  1. (sometimes foll by down) to wash, water, or sprinkle (a person or thing) with or as if with a hose

Word Origin

C15: later use of hose ²

hose2

noun plural hose or hosen
  1. stockings, socks, and tights collectively
  2. history a man's garment covering the legs and reaching up to the waist; worn with a doublet
  3. half-hose socks

Word Origin

Old English hosa; related to Old High German hosa, Dutch hoos, Old Norse hosa
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hosen

hose

n.

late Old English, hosa "covering for the leg," from Proto-Germanic *husan (cf. Old Saxon, Old Norse hosa, Middle High German hose "covering for the leg," German Hose "trousers"), literally "covering," from PIE *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal" (see hide (n.1)). Old French hose, Old Spanish huesa are of Germanic origin. Sense of "flexible rubber tube for liquid" is first attested late 15c.

hose

v.

c.1300, "to furnish with stockings," from hose (n.). Meaning "to water down with a hose" is from 1889. Related: Hosed; hosing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper