hough

[ hok; Scots hokh ]

noun
verb (used with object)
  1. Scot. to hamstring.

verb (used without object)
  1. British Dialect Obsolete. to clear the throat; hack.

Origin of hough

1
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at hock1

Other definitions for Hough (2 of 2)

Hough
[ huhf ]

noun
  1. Emerson, 1857–1923, U.S. novelist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hough in a sentence

  • These were smugglers' horses, clipped to the skin, with houghed manes, and tails and bodies sleek with soft soap.

    The Adventures of Harry Revel | Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
  • The Etonians, in order to secure the ram, houghed him in the Irish fashion, and then attacked him with great clubs.

    The Parent's Assistant | Maria Edgeworth
  • MacLaren died, and about the same time his cattle were houghed, and his live stock destroyed in a barbarous manner.

  • At one signal the horses were to be houghed with these instruments, and the infantry attacked with poniards.

    Letters from Spain | Joseph Blanco White
  • Now during the lawsuit we usually houghed and mutilated each other's cattle, according as they trespassed the premises.

    The Ned M'Keown Stories | William Carleton

British Dictionary definitions for hough

hough

/ (hɒk) British /


noun
  1. another word for hock 1

  2. (hɒx) in Scotland, a cut of meat corresponding to shin

verb(tr)
  1. to hamstring (cattle, horses, etc)

Origin of hough

1
C14: from Old English hōh heel

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