hose

American  

[hohz] / hoʊz /

noun

hoses, plural hosen plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

hosed, hosing

1. 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.

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 bydown ).

hose ¹ British  

/ həʊz /

noun

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. socks

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hose ² British  

/ həʊz /

noun

1. a flexible pipe, for conveying a liquid or gas

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verb

1. (sometimes foll by down) to wash, water, or sprinkle (a person or thing) with or as if with a hose

Other Word Forms

• hoseless
  adjective
• hoselike
  adjective
• unhosed
  adjective

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

A giant hose is lifted from the laden ship to the empty one and oil is pumped, sometimes more than a million barrels at a go.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

Automated sprinklers at the facility have been running since the problem was detected on Thursday, and an additional unmanned hose has also been spraying down the tank.

From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2026

This gives the heart a bigger job of pumping it around the body and it copes by dialling up the blood pressure - a bit like cranking the tap on a garden hose pipe.

From BBC • May 15, 2026

"A lot of energy systems, power plants have rubber parts. Everybody's had a garden hose that started leaking because a rubber gasket failed. Now imagine that happening in a power plant or a chemical plant."

From Science Daily • May 13, 2026

He belonged to a walled city of the fifteenth century, a city of narrow, cobbled streets, and thin spires, where the inhabitants wore pointed shoes and worsted hose.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

Related Words

• hosiery
• sock
• tights
• tube
• tubing