Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

hose

[hohz]
See more synonyms for hose on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural hose for 2, 3; hos·es for 1, 4, 5; (Archaic) hos·en [hoh-zuh n] /ˈhoʊ zən/.
  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.
Show More
verb (used with object), hosed, hos·ing.
  1. to water, wash, spray, or drench by means of a hose (often followed by down): 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 by down).
Show More

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
Related formshose·less, adjectivehose·like, adjectiveun·hosed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

tube, sock, tights, tubing, hosiery, breeches

Examples from the Web for hose

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She turned the hose on the car and washed the dust from it carefully.

    Her Father's Daughter

    Gene Stratton-Porter

  • The reply came: "No shooting allowed in Park; use the hose."

    The Biography of a Grizzly

    Ernest Seton-Thompson

  • The piece which the mastiff had torn from his hose did not discourage Boxtel.

    The Black Tulip

    Alexandre Dumas (Pere)

  • I shouted scornfully, as they started to play the hose on her.

    The Harbor

    Ernest Poole

  • The hose is of heavy duck, sometimes double, sewn by machine.

British Dictionary definitions for hose

hose1

noun
  1. a flexible pipe, for conveying a liquid or gas
Show More
verb
  1. (sometimes foll by down) to wash, water, or sprinkle (a person or thing) with or as if with a hose
Show More

Word Origin

C15: later use of hose ²

hose2

noun plural hose or hosen
  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. half-hose socks
Show More

Word Origin

Old English hosa; related to Old High German hosa, Dutch hoos, Old Norse hosa
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 hose

n.

late Old English, hosa "covering for the leg," from Proto-Germanic *husan (cf. Old Saxon, Old Norse hosa, Middle High German hose "covering for the leg," German Hose "trousers"), literally "covering," from PIE *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal" (see hide (n.1)). Old French hose, Old Spanish huesa are of Germanic origin. Sense of "flexible rubber tube for liquid" is first attested late 15c.

Show More

v.

c.1300, "to furnish with stockings," from hose (n.). Meaning "to water down with a hose" is from 1889. Related: Hosed; hosing.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper