hose
Americannoun
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hose,
plural
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hoses,
plural
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hosen
plural (Archaic)
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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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hoses,
present (3rd person singular)
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hosed,
past participle, past
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hosing
present participle
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hosesimple
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hosessimple
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have hosedperfect
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has hosedperfect
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am hosingprogressive
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are hosingprogressive
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is hosingprogressive
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have been hosingperfect progressive
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has been hosingperfect progressive
Past
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hosedsimple
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had hosedperfect
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was hosingprogressive
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were hosingprogressive
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had been hosingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
Crews returned the following day to remove the hose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
A battalion chief ordered crews to remove the hose anyway, The Times reported in October 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Then they turned a garden hose on the roof.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
"Think a bit more like being a powerful hose in the wind. Some areas get force and others don't."
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
His hair was smoothed to perfection, his canvas shoes a chaste white, and he looked sporty in his linen knickers, his belted coat with a boutonniere of Queen Anne’s Lace, and his ribbed, knee-length hose.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Born in Nieder-Rehback, Austria-Hungary, 69 years ago, Victor Berger attended the Universities of Vienna and Budapest, arrived in the U. S. in 1878 with $75 in his hosen.
From Time Magazine Archive
He opened a large chest and found underlinen and hosen, a hood with a long peak, and a warm cloak.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
He pulled off Robin’s hosen and carried him into the water, holding and dipping him where the current ran deep.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
The yellow, parchment face, the spare, sinewy body clad in black doublet and hosen, had been seen for a moment by many a forester.
From Sea-Dogs All! A Tale of Forest and Sea by Tom Bevan
"But I am much wanting an errand done at the Cloverlove plantation, and if you would do it, I will, with the ninepence, give a pair of hosen that will stand you well."
From Maid Sally by Harriet A. Cheever
"We're still short of hoses, which makes it hard for us to extinguish this fire."
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Cloaked in toxic haze that can burn years off a person's lifespan, volunteers have been digging ponds, canals and borewells through bone-dry peat in a desperate attempt to keep their hoses tapped.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Here, marmots crawl inside vehicles to chew hoses and lap up fluid, sometimes disabling cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The community "were brilliant", she said, and pulled together to put out flames, using hoses in gardens, while waiting for fire crews who were dealing with other incidents.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
I’m not sure who was more surprised, Daddy or the protesters, when the firemen turned the hoses on.
From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine
As the country raged that the Broncos got hosed, the man in charge of the team took the high road.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
For example, water is being hosed onto the greens during the opening two rounds to stop them from drying out, and to keep the grass alive.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
If people get hosed by, say, a bear market in stocks, taxpayers will end up on the hook supporting them anyway.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
And by 7 a.m., it’s all over: the seafood is gone, the floors are hosed down, and a full day’s business has come and gone before you’ve even had your morning coffee.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2025
It was as though the room had been designed to be hosed out for efficient cleaning.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
More than 50,000 residents of Garden Grove city were evacuated and fire crews began hosing down the tank in a bid to cool it.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Firefighters quickly began hosing down the smoking reactor -- "they didn't let the fire spread," Solovyov said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026
Over time, they made progress, hosing off embers and spot fires.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2025
He kept hosing: “I could see progress from the helicopters.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
More were at work on their boats, polishing brass, sitting on deck splicing ropes, hosing down the sails.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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