H

had best do something ought to do some-

thing. (Informal. Almost the same as the

following entry.) You had best get that

fixed right away.  You had best be at

school on time every day.

had better do something ought to do some-

thing (or face the consequences). (Al-

most the same as the previous entry.)

I had better get home for dinner, or I’ll get

yelled at. You had better do your home-

work right now.

had (just) as soon do something and would

(just) as soon do something would prefer

to do something else; would be content

to do something. (The would or had is

usually ’d. Also with just, as in the ex-

amples below.) They want me to go into

town. I’d as soon stay home. If you’re

cooking stew tonight, we’d as soon eat

somewhere else. I would just as soon stay

home as see a bad movie. If that’s what

we’re having for dinner, I’d just as soon

starve.

(had) known it was coming Go to knew

it was coming.

had rather do something and had sooner do

something would prefer to do something.

(The had is usually expressed in a con-

traction, ’d.) I’d rather go to town than

sit here all evening. They’d rather not.

I’d sooner not make the trip.

had sooner do something Go to had rather do

something.

hail from somewhere [for someone] to come

originally from somewhere. I’m from

Kansas. Where do you hail from? I hail

from the Southwest.

the hair of the dog that bit one a drink

of liquor taken when one has a hangover;

a drink of liquor taken when one is re-

covering from drinking too much liquor.

(Informal.) Oh, I’m miserable. I need

some of the hair of the dog that bit me.

That’s some hangover you’ve got there,

Bob. Here, drink this. It’s some of the hair

of the dog that bit you.

hale and hearty well and healthy. Does-

n’t Ann look hale and hearty? I don’t feel

hale and hearty. I’m really tired.

Half a loaf is better than none. Having

part of something is better than having

nothing. (Proverb.) When my raise was

smaller than I wanted, Sally said, “Half a

loaf is better than none.” People who

keep saying “Half a loaf is better than

none” usually have as much as they need.

halfhearted (about someone or something)

unenthusiastic about someone or some-

thing. Ann was halfhearted about the

choice of Sally for president. She didn’t

look halfhearted to me. She looked angry.

ham something up to make a performance

seem silly by showing off or exaggerating

one’s part. (Informal. A show-off actor is

known as a ham.) Come on, Bob. Don’t

ham it up! T The play was going fine un-

til Bob got out there and hammed up his

part.

hammer away (at someone or something) to

keep trying to accomplish something

with someone or something. (Refers to

repeated pounding with a hammer.)

John, you’ve got to keep hammering away

at your geometry. They hammered away

at the prisoner until he confessed.

hammer something home to try extremely

hard to make someone understand or re-

alize something. The teacher ham-

mered the dates home. T I tried to ham-

mer home to Anne the fact that she would

have to get a job. T The boss hopes to ham-

mer home the company’s precarious fi-

nancial position to the staff.

hammer something out 1. to work hard at

writing up an agreement; to work hard at

writing something. (Literally to pound

something flat with a hammer or mallet.

This refers to hammering at the keys of

a typewriter.) I’m busy hammering my

latest novel out. T The lawyers sat down

to hammer out a contract. 2. to play

something on the piano. She ham-

mered the song out loudly and without

feeling. T Listen to John hammer out that

song on the piano.

hand in glove (with someone) very close to

someone. John is really hand in glove

with Sally. The teacher and the princi-

pal work hand in glove.

Hand it over. Give it to me. (Informal.)

It’s mine. Hand it over! Come on. Give

me the box of jewels. Hand it over!

hand it to someone to give credit to some-

one. (Informal. Often with have to or

must.) I’ll hand it to you. You did a fine

job. We must hand it to Sally. She helped

us a lot.

hand-me-down something, such as an ar-

ticle of used clothing, that has been

handed down from someone. (See also

hand something down (to someone).) Why

do I always have to wear my brother’s

hand-me-downs? I want some new clothes.

This is a nice shirt. It doesn’t look like

a hand-me-down at all.

hand over fist [for money and merchan-

dise to be exchanged] very rapidly.

What a busy day. We took in money hand

over fist. They were buying things hand

over fist.

hand over hand [moving] one hand after

the other (again and again). Sally

pulled in the rope hand over hand. The

man climbed the rope hand over hand.

hand something down (to someone) 1. to give

something to a younger person. (Either

at death or during life. See also hand-me-

down.) John handed his old shirts down

to his younger brother. T I hope my uncle

will hand down his golf clubs to me when

he dies. 2. to announce or deliver a (le-

gal) verdict or indictment. T The grand

jury handed down seven indictments last

week. T The jury handed down a guilty

verdict.

handle someone with kid gloves to be very

careful with a touchy person. Bill has

become so sensitive. You really have to

handle him with kid gloves. You don’t

have to handle me with kid gloves. I can

take it.

hands down without a doubt. (Usually re-

garding a choice or a winner.) Jean was

our choice for the new manager hands

down. Todd won the race hands down.

Sharon was the favorite librarian of all

the people there hands down.

Hands off! Do not touch [someone or

something]! Careful! Don’t touch that

wire. Hands off! The sign says, “Hands

off!” and you had better do what it says.

Hands up! and Stick ’em up! Put your

hands in the air! (Slang. Said by robbers

and police officers. Hands that are in the

air cannot reach or draw a weapon.)

All right, you, hands up! Stick ’em up!

I got you covered.

hang a left to turn to the left. (Slang. See

also the following entry.) Hang a left

up at that light. Go three blocks and

hang a left.

hang a right to turn to the right. (Slang.)

At the next corner, hang a right.

Hang a right at the stop sign.

hang around (with someone) and go

around with someone to spend a lot of

time with someone; to waste away time

with someone. (See also run around with

someone.) John hangs around with Bill

a lot. They’ve been going around with

the Smiths. I’ve asked them all to stop

hanging around.

hang back to stay behind (the others); to

hold back (from the others). Walk with

the group, Bob. Don’t hang back. You’ll get

left behind. Three of the marchers hung

back and talked to each other.

hang by a hair and hang by a thread to

be in an uncertain position; to depend on

something very insubstantial; to hang in

the balance. (Informal.) Your whole ar-

gument is hanging by a thread. John is-

n’t failing geometry, but his passing grade

is just hanging by a hair.

hang by a thread Go to hang by a hair.

hang fire to delay or wait. I think we

should hang fire and wait for other infor-

mation. Our plans have to hang fire un-

til we get planning permission.

hang in the balance to be in an undecided

state; to be between two equal possibili-

ties. The prisoner stood before the judge

with his life hanging in the balance. This

whole issue will have to hang in the bal-

ance until Jane gets back from her

vacation.

hang in there to keep trying; to persevere.

(Slang.) I know things are tough, John,

but hang in there. I know if I hang in

there, things will come out okay.

hang loose to relax; to remain calm.

(Slang.) I know I can pass this test if I

just hang loose. Hang loose, Bob. Every-

thing is going to be all right.

hang one’s hat (up) somewhere to take up

residence somewhere. George loves

Dallas. He’s decided to buy a house and

hang his hat up there. Bill moves from

place to place and never hangs his hat up

anywhere.

hang on someone’s coattails Go to ride on

someone’s coattails.

hang on someone’s every word to listen

with complete attention to everything

someone says. He gave a great lecture.

We hung on his every word. Look at the

way John hangs on Mary’s every word. He

must be in love with her.

hang on (to someone or something) and hold

on (to someone or something) to remember

someone or something for a long time; to

be affected very much by someone or

something in the past. (Also literal mean-

ing grasping or holding someone or

something.) That’s a nice thought, Bob.

Hang on to it. You’ve been holding on to

those bad memories for too long. It’s time

to let them go. Yes, I can’t keep hang-

ing on.

hang out (somewhere) to spend time some-

where; to waste time somewhere. I

wish you guys wouldn’t hang out around

the bowling alley. Why do you have to

hang out near our house?

hang out (with someone) to waste time in

the company of someone. I hope Bob

isn’t hanging out with the wrong people.

He needs to spend more time studying and

less time hanging out.

hang tough to be firm in one’s position;

to stick to one’s position. (Slang. Com-

pare this with hang in there.) I know

that your parents don’t want you to go out

tonight, but hang tough. They may change

their minds. Hang tough, Mary. You’ll

get your way!

hang up to replace the telephone receiver;

to terminate a telephone call. If you

have called a wrong number, you should

apologize before you hang up. When you

hear the busy signal, you’re supposed to

hang up.

happen (up)on someone or something to meet

someone, or find something unexpect-

edly. I happened on this nice little

restaurant on Elm Street yesterday. Mr.

Simpson and I happened on one another

in the bank last week.

happy as a clam Go to (as) happy as a

clam.

happy as a lark Go to (as) happy as a lark.

happy as can be Go to (as) happy as can

be

a harbinger of things to come and a por-

tent of things to come; a sign of

things to come; a taste of things to

come a sample of the events that are to

occur in the future. The first cuts in our

budget are a harbinger of things to come.

Today’s visit from the auditors is a por-

tent of things to come.

hard-and-fast rigid or strict, especially

when applied to rules, laws, or regula-

tions. The rule isn’t hard-and-fast, but

we expect you to obey it anyway. The

company has a hard-and-fast rule about

the use of radios, even in private offices.

hard as a rock Go to (as) hard as a rock.

hard as nails Go to (as) hard as nails.

hard as stone Go to (as) hard as a rock.

hard of hearing [of someone] unable to

hear well; partially deaf. Please speak

loudly. I am hard of hearing. Tom is

hard of hearing, but is not totally deaf.

hard on someone’s heels following someone

very closely; following very closely to

someone’s heels. (Informal.) I ran as

fast as I could, but the dog was still hard

on my heels. Here comes Sally, and John

is hard on her heels.

hard-pressed (to do something) Go to hard

put (to do something).

hard put (to do something) and hard-

pressed (to do something) able to do

something only with great difficulty.

I’m hard put to come up with enough

money to pay the rent. I get hard put

like that about once a month.

hard up (for something) greatly in need of

something. (Informal.) Ann was hard

up for cash to pay the bills. I was so hard

up, I couldn’t afford to buy food.

hardly have time to breathe and

scarcely have time to breathe to be

very busy. This was such a busy day. I

hardly had time to breathe. They made

him work so hard that he hardly had time

to breathe.

hardly have time to think so busy that

one can hardly think properly; very busy.

I’ve been so busy that I hardly have time

to think. I hardly have time to think in

the job that I do. We are just too busy.

hark(en) back to something 1. to have orig-

inated as something; to have started out

as something. (Harken is an older word

meaning “pay heed to.”) The word ice-

box harks back to refrigerators that were

cooled by ice. Our modern breakfast ce-

reals hark back to the porridge and gruel

of our ancestors. 2. to remind one of

something. Seeing a horse and buggy in

the park harks back to the time when

horses drew milk wagons. Sally says it

harkens back to the time when everything

was delivered by a horse-drawn wagon.

harp on something to keep talking or com-

plaining about something; to refer to

something again and again. Mary’s al-

ways harping on being poor, but she has

more than enough money. Jack has been

harping on high taxes for years.

hash something over to discuss something in

great detail. (Informal.) Okay, we can

hash it over this afternoon. T Why don’t

you come to my office so we can hash over

this contract?

Haste makes waste. Time gained in do-

ing something rapidly and carelessly will

be lost when one has to do the thing over

again correctly. (Proverb.) Now, take

your time. Haste makes waste. Haste

makes waste, so be careful as you work.

hat in hand Go to (with) hat in hand.