Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HOSE, n. [plur. hosen or hose; pron. hoze, ho'zn. Sax. hos, a heel, a thorn or twig, and hose; G. hose; D. kous; W. hos, hosan, from hws, a covering, a housing; Fr. chausse; Ir. asan. The Welsh unites this word with house. The hose or hosan was a garment covering the legs and thighs, like the modern long trowsers. Hence in G. hosen-gurt, a hose-girt, is a waist-band; and hosen-träger, hose-supporter, or shoulder-strap, indicates that the hose was sustained, as breeches and pantaloons now are, by suspenders or braces.]

1. Breeches or trowsers. Shak.
2. Stockings; coverings for the legs. This word, in mercantile use, is synonymous with stockings, though originally a very different garment.
3. A leathern pipe, used with fire-engines, for conveying water to extinguish fires.