Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HACK'MA-TACK, n.

The popular name of the red larch, the Pinus microcarpa, or more commonly of another species, the Pinus pendula, of Aiton.

HACK'NEY, a.

1. Let out for hire; devoted to common use; as, a hackney-coach.
2. Prostitute; vicious for hire. Roscommon.
3. Much used; common; trite; as, a hackney author or remark.

HACK'NEY, n. [Fr. haquenée, a pacing horse; Sp. hacanea, a nag somewhat larger than a pony; haca, a pony; Port. hacanea or acanea, a choice pad, or ambling nag; It. chinea.]

1. A pad; a nag; a pony. Chaucer.
2. A horse kept for hire; a horse much used; also a lady's pony.
3. A coach or other carriage kept for hire, and often exposed in the streets of cities. The word is sometimes contracted to hack.
4. Any thing much used or used in common; a hireling; a prostitute.

HACK'NEY, v.t.

1. To use much; to practice in one thing; to make trite.
2. To carry in a hackney-coach. Cowper.

HACK'NEY-COACH, n. [See HACKNEY.]

HACK'NEY-COACH'MAN, n.

A man who drives a hackney-coach.

HACK'NEY-ED, pp.

1. Used much or in common.
2. Practiced; accustomed. He is long hackneyed in the ways of men. Shak.

HACK'NEY-ING, ppr.

Using much; accustoming.

HACK'NEY-MAN, n.

A man who lets horses and carriages for hire. Barret.

HACK'STER, n.

A bully; a ruffian or assassin. [obs.] Bp. Hall.

HAC'QUE-TON, n. [Fr. hoqueton.]

A stuffed jacket formerly worn under armor, sometimes made of leather. [Not used.] Spenser.

HAD, v.t. [pret. and pp. of have; contracted from Sax. hæfd, that is, haved; as, I had; I have had. In the phrase, “I had better go,” it is supposed that had is used for would; “I'd better go.” The sense of the phrase is, “it would be better for me to go.”]

HAD'DER, n. [G. heide.]

Heath. [Not in use. See Heath.]

HAD'DOCK, n. [Ir. codog. The first syllable seems to be cod or gadus, and the last, the termination, as in bullock.]

A fish of the genus Gadus or cod, and order of Jugulars. It has a long body, the upper part of a dusky brown color, and the belly of a silvery hue; the lateral line is black. This fish breeds in immense numbers in the northern seas, and constitutes a considerable article of food. Encyc.

HADE, n.

1. Among miners, the steep descent of a shaft; also, the descent of a hill. Drayton.
2. In mining, the inclination or deviation from the vertical of a mineral vein. Cyc.

HA'DES, n. [Gr. αδης, qu. α negative, and ειδω, to see.]

The region of the dead; the invisible world, or the grave.

HADJ, n. [Ar.]

The pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, performed by Mohammedans.

HAF'FLE, v.i.

To speak unintelligibly; to prevaricate.

HAFT, n. [Sax. hæft, a haft, and hæftan, to seize; G. heft; D. heft; Dan. hefte; from the root of have, or of L. capio, W. hafiaw, to snatch.]

A handle; that part of an instrument or vessel which is taken into the hand, and by which it is held and used. It is used chiefly for the part of a sword or dagger by which it is held; the hilt.

HAFT, v.t.

To set in a haft; to furnish with a handle.

HAFT'ER, n. [W. hafiaw, to catch.]

A caviller; a wrangler. [Not in use.] Barret.

HAG, n. [In Sax hægesse is a witch, fury or goblin, answering to the Hecate of mythology. In W. hagyr, ugly, is from hag, a gash, from the root of hack. In Russ. ega is a foolish old woman, a sorceress. See Hagard.]

1. An ugly old woman; as, an old hag of threescore. Dryden.
2. A witch; a sorceress; an enchantress. Shak.
3. A fury; a she-monster. Crashaw.
4. A cartilaginous fish, the Gastrobranchus, which enters other fishes and devours them. It is about five or six inches long, and resembles a small eel. It is allied to the lamprey. Cyc.
5. Appearances of light and fire on horses' manes or men's hair, were formerly called hags. Blount.

HAG, v.t.

1. To harass; to torment. Butler.
2. To tire; to weary with vexation.

HAG'ARD, a. [G. hager, lean; W. hag, a gash; hacciaw, to hack. See Hack.]

1. Literally, having a ragged look, as if hacked or gashed. Hence, lean; meager; rough; having eyes sunk in their orbits; ugly.
2. Wild; fierce; intractable; as, a hagard hawk.

HAG'ARD, n. [See Hag. This and the other derivatives of hag ought to be written with a single g.]

1. Any thing wild and intractable. Shak.
2. A species of hawk. Walton.
3. A hag.