Emily Dickinson Lexicon

hoary, adj. [see hoar, adj.] (webplay: age, head).

1. Ancient; time-honored; venerable due to age.
2. Cold; snowy; frosty; wintry; [fig.] grieving; desolate.
3. Grey; silver; white-haired; turning white with age; [fig.] sick; pale; old; prematurely aged.

hock, n. [shortened form of hockamore < Gm. Hochheimer.]

Rhenish wine produced at Hochheim in Germany; this title extended to other white wines; (word play) refers to various malvaceous plants, esp. the Marsh Mallow and the Hollyhock.

hoe, v. [Fr. houe, see hew, v.] (webplay: farmer's).

Cut; dig; loosen ground with a long handled metal tool, as in a garden.

hoist (-ed, -s), v. [origin unknown.] (webplay: flag; perpendicular).

1. Lift; raise; bear upward.
2. Remove; bear away.

hoisted, verbal adj. [see hoist, v.] (webplay: seamen).

Raised; lifted; drawn up.

hold (-ing, -s, held), v. [OE haldan < Germanic.] (webplay: anchor, arms, basket, bearing, blow, carry, child, contain, curtain, debate, distance, dollar, endure, escape, estate, exhibit, fail, fast, fix, fool, frost, grace, hand, head, horse, interrupted, judge, keep, last, laughter, lifting, limit, measure, nature, night, offer, orange, peace, people, possession, practice, raining, reach, running, solemnize, stand, still, stop, take, teach, think, thunder, title, tongue, true, up, water, within).

1. Retain; contain; prevent; restrain; confine within.
2. Bear in the hand; maintain in one's grasp.
3. Bind; stay; stick; connect; adhere; keep from separation; [fig.] legally binding.
4. Think; regard; consider; believe; maintain an opinion.
5. Contain; amount that can be borne.
6. Own; retain; maintain.
7. Mold; shape.
8. Phrase. “hold up”: sustain; support.

holiday (-s), n. [OE háligdæg, holy day.] (webplay: celebrate, day, gaiety, joy, solemnities).

1. Festival to celebrate a special religious event.
2. Day set apart for commemorating an important event in the history of a nation.
3. Day of joy, gaiety, and celebration; [fig.] joy; elation; happiness .
4. [Fig.] game; sport; activity like one would engage in on a holiday.
5. [Fig.] freedom; independence.

holiness, n. [OE hálignes.] (webplay: goodness, holiness).

Purity; sacredness; completeness.

Holland, proper n. [Dutch < holt, wood + lant, land.]

Dr. Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1881); friend of the Dickinson family; medical doctor who became a teacher and a writer; associate editor for the Springfield Republican in Massachusetts; [see ED's letters.]

hollow, adj. [ME holu.]

Empty; vacant; not solid.