hose

[ hohz ]

/ hoʊz /

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See synonyms for: hose / hosed / hosing on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural hose for 2, 3; hos·es for 1, 4, 5; (Archaic) hos·en

[hoh-zuhn]. /ˈhoʊ zən/.

a flexible tube for conveying a liquid, as water, to a desired point: a garden hose; a fire hose.

(used with a plural verb) an article of clothing for the foot and lower part of the leg; stocking or sock.

(of men's attire in former times)

an article of clothing for the leg, extending from about the knee to the ankle and worn with knee breeches.
(used with a plural verb) knee breeches.
(used with a plural verb) tights, as were worn with, and usually attached to, a doublet.

British Dialect. a sheath, or sheathing part, as that enclosing a kernel of grain.

Golf. hosel.

verb (used with object), hosed, hos·ing.

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.

Slang.

to cheat, trick, or take advantage of.
to defeat decisively.
to reject.
Chiefly Military. to attack or assault (an area) in order to gain control quickly (sometimes followed by down).

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

OTHER WORDS FROM hose

hoseless, adjectivehoselike, adjectiveun·hosed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hose in a sentence

He showered with a hose outside the boarding house where he rented a room.
The Stolen Childhood of Teenage Factory Workers|by Melissa Sanchez|November 20, 2020|ProPublica
As some entomologists hit the tree to stir up the hornets, others sucked up the insects through a vacuum hose stuck in the remaining opening to the nest.
A nest filled with hundreds of ‘murder hornets’ was destroyed ‘just in the nick of time,’ officials say|Teo Armus|November 12, 2020|Washington Post
Finicky hose-attachment systems can also result in a loose and dangling hose midride, and they make taking the pack off or putting it on feel like a two-step process.
Best Women's Mountain Bike Gear for Fall Riding|Gloria Liu|November 7, 2020|Outside Online
Each of these sprinklers attach to a standard garden hose, and are easy to move to wherever they might be needed.
Sprinklers to keep lawns fresh|PopSci Commerce Team|October 30, 2020|Popular-Science

In the wake of their hoses, the engineer taught me how to make gum guards out of the wax.
Fiction: Quiet earth philosophy|Katie McLean|October 21, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Detainees were hosed down while shackled naked, and placed in rooms with temperatures as low as 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
Inside the CIA’s Sadistic Dungeon|Tim Mak|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the paddlers have the sweat hosed off of them, they are either elated or dejected with the timing results.
Bros Love Dragon Boats|Daniel Genis|August 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A YouTube video uploaded Sunday shows the man being hosed down with water by firefighters who had been waiting nearby.
Suicidal Anti-war Protest Shocks Japan as It Rethinks Pacifist Constitution|Angela Erika Kubo, Jake Adelstein|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Some of us even had on our rain coats because we knew that we were going to be hosed down by the water hoses.
How the Children of Birmingham Changed the Civil-Rights Movement|Lottie L. Joiner|May 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
My freshman fall, I applied to the creative writing program and was promptly hosed.
Whatever Happened to ‘Prison Break’ Hunk Wentworth Miller?|Ramin Setoodeh|March 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I stood before him, ashamed yet glad, hosed and doubleted like a boy, in the Summer Pavilion.
Joan of the Sword Hand|S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett
Atomic lamps, mounted on hundred-story buildings hosed and squirted the happy mob with blue-white glare.
The Syndic|C.M. Kornbluth
His yellow-hosed legs went like the tune of a May game, and he screwed and twisted his scarlet-jerkined body in time with them.
Devil Stories|Various
The newly-hosed streets are shining in the sunlight as though paved with "patines of bright gold."
Modern Essays|John Macy
A stream of water hosed into the tube would have worked the same way.
Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet|Harold Leland Goodwin

British Dictionary definitions for hose (1 of 2)

hose¹

/ (həʊz) /

noun

a flexible pipe, for conveying a liquid or gas

verb

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

Word Origin for hose

C15: later use of hose ²

British Dictionary definitions for hose (2 of 2)

hose²

/ (həʊz) /

noun plural hose or hosen

stockings, socks, and tights collectively

history a man's garment covering the legs and reaching up to the waist; worn with a doublet

half-hose socks

Word Origin for hose

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

hose

Origin of hose

OTHER WORDS FROM hose

Words related to hose

How to use hose in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hose (1 of 2)

Word Origin for hose

British Dictionary definitions for hose (2 of 2)

Word Origin for hose