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:
Instead, two fire hose cabinets sit in each gallery, one at the front, and one near Cell 24.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
That shift can train a veritable fire hose of tropical moisture at Southern California, potentially leading to significant rainfall across the region — albeit at the cost of drier-than-usual conditions elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Water companies in parts of England and Wales have imposed bans on using hose pipes for household tasks and watering plants.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Crews from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service worked overnight to extinguish the blaze using jets and hose reels and have arranged for a helicopter water-drop to reach inaccessible areas.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Like they were drinking liquid adrenaline through a fire hose.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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 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
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
Of this termination we have evident remains in the words oxen, hosen, shoon, eyne, words more or less antiquated.
From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham
They had most of them long hosen up to their groins, close made, and above their groins to their waist another leather; they were altogether like the Irish trousers.
From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IX (of X) - America - I by Henry Cabot Lodge
Here, marmots crawl inside vehicles to chew hoses and lap up fluid, sometimes disabling cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
When hosepipe bans are in force sports grounds can use hoses or sprinklers - but only to water grass areas "actively used for play".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
A tiler in civilian life, he has spent days rushing water and carrying hoses behind the firefighters beating back the blazes near his home in the beach resort of Lanton in southwest France.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Because the covers can conform to complex shapes, they could protect a wide variety of components, including rovers, robotic joints, hoses, and other moving hardware.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
The hoses that connected the rover and trailer were designed well, and released without breaking.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Anyone who bought gold in the late 1970s or early 1980s got hosed — while stocks and bonds boomed.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2025
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
City are never home and hosed this season.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2025
As embers the size of golf balls pelted the property, she put out spot fires and hosed down the wood-shingled roofs of the Lake Shrine’s historic buildings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2025
When the steam cleared, she stepped inside and sealed the door behind her, then hosed the cubicle’s cement floor with water and scoured her workbench with alcohol.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Firefighters quickly began hosing down the smoking reactor -- "they didn't let the fire spread," Solovyov said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026
Some have hired professional remediation firms while others are throwing out damaged toys and furniture, scrubbing walls and hosing down playground equipment themselves in the hopes of being able to welcome children back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2025
In Los Angeles County, local news showed those near the Hughes fire hosing down their homes and yards with water and others rushing to evacuate neighbourhoods.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2025
He kept hosing: “I could see progress from the helicopters.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
Papi and Roli are setting up the patio table and hosing off the chairs.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
