📖 H — The English dictionary · page 32

horsefly — Everyday, meaning 1: A horsefly is a large fly whose females bite people and animals and drink their blood.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Its bite is painful and can swell and itch.↗ Example: A horsefly bit me by the river.↗ · Horsefly bites really hurt.↗ · Only female horseflies bite.↗ · The horse swished its tail to keep the horseflies away.↗ · Horseflies have huge, colourful eyes.↗ · Put a cold cloth on a horsefly bite.↗ · We saw a big horsefly buzzing round the picnic.↗ · Horseflies like warm, damp summer days.↗ · As he lay there unable to move, a swarm of horseflies settled on him and sucked his blood undisturbed, for he was too weak even to shake them off.↗

horsehair — Everyday, meaning 1: Horsehair is the hair from a horse's mane or tail, used to make things such as violin bows, brushes and stuffing for old furniture.↗ Example: A violin bow is strung with horsehair.↗ · The old sofa was stuffed with horsehair.↗ · British judges' wigs are made of horsehair.↗ · Rub rosin on the horsehair before you play.↗ · The paintbrush was made of horsehair.↗ · The scratchy horsehair mattress was uncomfortable.↗

horseleech — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: A large leech, a worm-like creature that sucks blood.↗ Example: The horseleech hath two daughters: 'Give, give.'↗ There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four that say not: 'Enough': (Writings PRO.30.15, JPS 1917)↗

horseman — Everyday, meaning 1: A horseman is a man who rides a horse, especially one who rides well.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A horseman is a soldier or traveller on horseback in history and stories.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (Bible) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are four riders in the Book of Revelation who stand for war, famine, disease and death.↗ Example: A lone horseman rode across the hills at sunset.↗ · Grandad was a fine horseman when he was young.↗ · The Mongol horsemen could ride for days without stopping.↗ · A horseman brought the news of the battle to the king.↗ · My cousin wants to be a horsewoman and enter show jumping.↗ · The Headless Horseman chases Ichabod Crane in the old American story.↗ · In the Bible the Four Horsemen appear in the Book of Revelation.↗ · Ten horsemen trotted past the farm.↗ · At last the horseman reached the foot of the hill.↗ · The horseman charging, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear; and a multitude of slain, and a heap of carcases; and there is no end of the corpses, and they stumble upon their corpses; (Prophets NAM.3.3, JPS 1917)↗

horsemanship — Everyday, meaning 1: Horsemanship is the skill of riding horses and handling them well.↗ Example: Her horsemanship impressed the riders.↗ · He learned horsemanship from his uncle.↗ · Good horsemanship takes years of practice.↗ · The prince was taught music and horsemanship.↗ · Riding a fast horse over a jump needs good horsemanship.↗

horseshoe — Everyday, meaning 1: A U-shaped piece of metal nailed to the bottom of a horse's hoof to protect it.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Anything shaped like a U, as in a horseshoe magnet or a horseshoe bend in a river.↗ Example: The farrier nailed a new horseshoe on the pony.↗ · A horseshoe hangs above our front door for luck.↗ · We picked up paper clips with a horseshoe magnet.↗ · The tables were set out in a horseshoe.↗ · The river makes a horseshoe bend near the town.↗ · We played a game of throwing horseshoes at a peg.↗ · Horses need new horseshoes every few weeks.↗

horseshoes — Everyday, meaning 1: U-shaped metal plates nailed to the bottom of a horse's hooves to protect them.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (USA, Canada) horseshoes: a game in which players throw horseshoes at a metal stake in the ground.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Something shaped like a U, such as a magnet; a horseshoe is a sign of good luck.↗ Example: The blacksmith nailed new horseshoes on the pony.↗ · A horse needs four horseshoes.↗ · How many horseshoes do 5 horses need?↗ Twenty.↗ · We played horseshoes at the picnic.↗ · A horseshoe hangs over the door for luck.↗ · The horseshoe magnet picked up the pins.↗

horticultural — Everyday, meaning 1: (formal) Having to do with growing fruit, vegetables, flowers and garden plants.↗ Example: The village holds a horticultural show every summer.↗ · My aunt studied at a horticultural college.↗ · Grandad won a prize at the horticultural society for his marrow.↗ · Horticultural workers look after the city parks.↗ · The shop sells horticultural tools and seeds.↗ · This is a horticultural greenhouse for young plants.↗

hosanna — Everyday, meaning 1: (Bible, church) Hosanna is a shout of praise to God; the crowds shouted «Hosanna!» when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A hosanna is a shout or song of praise or joy.↗ Example: The crowd shouted «Hosanna!» as Jesus rode in on a donkey.↗ · On Palm Sunday we sing «Hosanna in the highest».↗ · The choir sang a joyful hosanna.↗ · Children waved palm leaves and called «Hosanna!».↗ · «Hosanna» comes from Hebrew words meaning «save us».↗ · The hymn ends with a great hosanna.↗ · The vicar explained the meaning of hosanna.↗

hose — Everyday, meaning 1: A hose is a long soft tube that carries water, for watering a garden or washing a car.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A fire hose is a big strong hose that firefighters use.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To hose something (or hose it down) is to wash or spray it with a hose.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Hose is an old word for stockings or tights.↗ Example: The hose is 15 metres long.↗ · Water flows from the hose at 10 litres a minute.↗ · How long does it take to fill a 200 litre tank?↗ · He joins two hoses of 8 m each.↗ · Dad hosed down the muddy bikes.↗ · The firefighters pointed the hose at the flames.↗ · Don't leave the hose running, it wastes water.↗ · We filled the paddling pool with the garden hose.↗ · They also gave him ragged hose and a tattered shirt, for they were very poor people.↗

hosepipe — Everyday, meaning 1: (UK, Ireland) A long, bendy rubber or plastic tube for carrying water, used to water gardens or wash cars; in the US, Canada and Australia usually just «hose».↗ Example: Dad watered the tomatoes with the hosepipe.↗ · There's a hosepipe ban because it hasn't rained for weeks.↗ · We sprayed each other with the hosepipe on the hot day.↗ · Coil up the hosepipe so nobody trips over it.↗ · A hosepipe can use hundreds of litres of water an hour.↗ · The car was washed with a bucket during the hosepipe ban.↗

hospice — Everyday, meaning 1: A hospice is a special home or hospital where people who are very ill and are not expected to get better are cared for kindly and kept comfortable until they die.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Hospice care can also be given at home by hospice nurses.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (history) A hospice was once a house where travellers or pilgrims could rest, often run by monks.↗ Example: Grandma spent her last weeks in a peaceful hospice.↗ · The hospice nurses were so kind to our family.↗ · Our school ran a sponsored walk for the children's hospice.↗ · The hospice has a garden where families can sit.↗ · Hospice care helps people feel comfortable, not alone.↗ · Long ago, monks ran a hospice for travellers in the mountains.↗

hospitable — Everyday, meaning 1: Friendly and welcoming to guests and visitors.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (of a place) Pleasant and easy to live in, as in «a hospitable climate».↗ Example: Our neighbours were very hospitable and gave us cake.↗ · The villagers were hospitable to the lost travellers.↗ · Be hospitable when your friends come to play.↗ · Earth is the most hospitable planet we know.↗ · The cold mountain top is not hospitable for plants.↗ · The hotel staff were warm and hospitable.↗ · The eleven brothers thought that they had come to very hospitable people.↗

hospital — Everyday, meaning 1: A hospital is a large building where sick or injured people are looked after by doctors and nurses.↗ Example: She went to hospital with a broken arm.↗ · My baby brother was born in this hospital.↗ · The ambulance took him to the hospital.↗ · We visited Grandpa in hospital.↗ · Hospitals are open day and night.↗ · Wash your hands when you visit a hospital.↗ · Doctors and nurses work at the hospital.↗ · “My dear Pinocchio, the Fairy is lying ill in a hospital.”↗

hospitalise — Everyday, meaning 1: To send someone to hospital or keep them there for treatment because they are ill or injured.↗ Example: Grandad was hospitalised with pneumonia.↗ · Two cyclists were hospitalised after the accident.↗ · Heatstroke can be bad enough to hospitalise someone.↗ · She was hospitalised for three days.↗ · Wear a helmet: bad falls hospitalise many riders each year.↗ · The flu outbreak hospitalised several elderly people.↗

hospitality — Everyday, meaning 1: Being friendly, welcoming and generous to guests or strangers.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Food, drink and entertainment given to guests.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: The business of hotels, restaurants and cafés, called the hospitality industry.↗ Example: Thank you for your kind hospitality; we loved staying with you.↗ · The village was famous for its hospitality to travellers.↗ · The Bible teaches Christians to show hospitality to strangers.↗ · My cousin works in hospitality at a big hotel.↗ · The family's hospitality made us feel at home.↗ · The team enjoyed the hospitality of the other school after the match.↗ · He had grown fat upon the badger's hospitality.↗

host — Everyday, meaning 1: A host is a person who invites guests and looks after them, for example at a party.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A host is a person who presents a TV or radio show.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A host is an animal or plant that another living thing (a parasite) lives on.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: To host means to hold an event or have guests.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: A host of things means a lot of them.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: A host can also mean a large army of soldiers, an old use of the word.↗ Example: Our class is hosting a bake sale.↗ · Remember to thank your host before you leave the party.↗ · The quiz show host read the question.↗ · A good host makes guests feel at home.↗ · Ticks feed on a host animal like a deer.↗ · Australia hosted the Olympic Games.↗ · Mum hosted a dinner for the neighbours.↗ · There were a host of reasons to celebrate.↗ · Who has slain this mighty host?’↗ · And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.↗ (Torah GEN.2.1, JPS 1917)↗ · and his host, and those that were numbered of them, forty thousand and five hundred; (Torah NUM.2.19, JPS 1917)↗ · and his host, even those that were numbered thereof, fifty and four thousand and four hundred; (Torah NUM.2.6, JPS 1917)↗ · Why? saith the LORD of hosts.↗ (Prophets HAG.1.9, JPS 1917)↗ · How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!↗ (Writings PSA.84.2, JPS 1917)↗ · Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.↗ (Prophets HAG.1.7, JPS 1917)↗

hostage — Everyday, meaning 1: A hostage is a person who is held prisoner by someone who will not let them go until they get what they want.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To take someone hostage, or hold someone hostage, is to capture and keep them like this.↗ Example: The robbers took two people hostage in the bank.↗ · The hostages were released after many days.↗ · Families waited for news of the hostages.↗ · In the film, the hero rescued the hostage from the castle.↗ · Taking hostages is a serious crime.↗ · (figurative) Our picnic was held hostage by the rain.↗ · They even owed something to their landlord, who kept them as hostages till they could pay their debts.↗ · And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.↗ (Prophets 2KI.14.14, JPS 1917)↗ · And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.↗ (Writings 2CH.25.24, JPS 1917)↗

hostel — Everyday, meaning 1: A cheap place to stay, often with shared rooms and bunk beds, for travellers and young people.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A building where people who have no home or are students can live for a time.↗ Example: Our class stayed at a youth hostel in the hills.↗ · The hostel had bunk beds and a shared kitchen.↗ · Backpackers often sleep in hostels.↗ · The city opened a new hostel for homeless people.↗ · We cooked our own breakfast at the hostel.↗ · The hostel was full, so we found a campsite.↗

hostess — Everyday, meaning 1: A woman who invites guests and looks after them at a party or in her home.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A woman who greets people in a restaurant or presents a show.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (old use) A woman who looks after passengers on a plane — today called a flight attendant.↗ Example: Mum was the hostess of the birthday party.↗ · The hostess showed us to our table.↗ · A good hostess makes sure everyone has a drink.↗ · The hostess of the quiz show read the questions.↗ · Thank the hostess when you leave.↗ · My nan is a wonderful hostess at Christmas.↗ · "Our good hostess has made kings of us all," said one.↗

hostile — Everyday, meaning 1: Unfriendly and angry, ready to argue or fight.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Belonging to an enemy, as in «hostile army».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (of a place or conditions) Very harsh and difficult to live in, as in «a hostile desert».↗ Example: The guard dog gave us a hostile growl.↗ · The new boy felt the class was hostile at first.↗ · Deserts are hostile places with little water.↗ · The ship sailed into hostile waters.↗ · She gave a hostile look when I took her seat.↗ · Space is a hostile environment for humans.↗ · He saw hostile warriors, in colored dresses and glittering armor, with spear and halberd, pitching their tents, and anon striking them.↗