haw1
[haw]
- to utter a sound representing a hesitation or pause in speech.
Show More
- a sound or pause of hesitation.Compare hem2(def 3).
Show More
Origin of haw1
First recorded in 1625–35; imitative
haw2
[haw]
- (used as a word of command to a horse or other draft animal, usually directing it to turn to the left.)
Show More
- to turn or make a turn to the left: The horse refused to haw.
Show More
Compare gee1.
Origin of haw2
1835–45, Americanism; apparently orig. the imperative haw! look! of Middle English hawen, Old English hāwian; akin to Latin cavēre to beware
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for hawing
Contemporary Examples
After some hemming and hawing, Yusaf finally replied with, “Why do you have to insult the Prophet?”
After much hemming and hawing—because everything moves slowly in the palace—they said yes.
After much hemming and hawing, he finally settled on a single word to describe the finale: "victorious."
'Breaking Bad' Creator Vince Gilligan Reveals the Finale Will Be "Victorious"Andrew Romano
April 30, 2013
After 500 pages of hemming and hawing by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Roethlisberger was never criminally charged.
“It was the only part of the script I was hemming and hawing over whether to use the language from the comic book,” Vaughn said.
Historical Examples
She knew the humming and hawing gentleman—had heard him often before.
The Coryston FamilyMrs. Humphry Ward
Humming and hawing are ludicrous embellishments to a discourse.
The Comic English GrammarUnknown
Whereupon the three were silent, save for a trifle of hemming and hawing.
The Open Boat and Other StoriesStephen Crane
Old Mac has got the shoot direct; no humming and hawing, but 'Out you go!'
The Call of the TownJohn Alexander Hammerton
And after looking about him and humming and hawing, 'Won't you sit?'
The Castle InnStanley John Weyman
haw1
- the round or oval fruit (a pome) of the hawthorn, usually red or yellow, containing one to five seeds
- another name for hawthorn
Show More
Word Origin
Old English haga, identical with haga hedge; related to Old Norse hagi pasture
haw2
- an inarticulate utterance, as of hesitation, embarrassment, etc; hem
Show More
- (intr) to make this sound
- hem and haw or hum and haw See hem 2 (def. 3)
Show More
Word Origin
C17: of imitative origin
haw3
- archaic a yard or close
Show More
Word Origin
of unknown origin
haw4
- the nictitating membrane of a horse or other domestic animal
Show More
Word Origin
C15: of unknown origin
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 hawing
haw
v.
"hesitate in speech," 1580s, imitative. Related: Hawed; hawing. The noun in this sense is from c.1600. Haw-haw "style of affected enunciation" is from 1841, imitative.
Show More
haw
n.
"enclosure," Old English haga "enclosure, hedge," from Proto-Germanic *hag- (cf. Old Norse hagi, Old Saxon hago, German Hag "hedge;" Middle Dutch hage, Dutch haag, as in the city name The Hague). See hag and hedge. Meaning "fruit of the hawthorn bush" (Old English) is perhaps short for *hægberie.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with hawing
haw
see hem and haw.
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.