haw
Fruit of the hawthornFruit of the hawthorn.
» Stop hemming and hawing.
Hör auf rumzudrucksen!
Meaning
5 sensesFruit of the hawthorn.
(historical)A hedge.
(countable)The third eyelid, or nictitating membrane.
the nictitating membrane of a horse
(uncountable)A disease of the nictitating membrane.
(obsolete)Something that has little value or importance; a whit or jot.
Examples
8 sentencesStop hemming and hawing.
deHör auf rumzudrucksen!
Stop hemming and hawing around.
deHör auf rumzudrucksen!
Redwings have a clear preference for haws.
deDie Rotdrossel hat eine klare Vorliebe für Weißdornbeeren.
That's why he keeps pausing and hemming and hawing.
After a lot of hemming and hawing, Tom agreed to it.
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
From Middle English hawe, from Old English haga (“enclosure, hedge”), from Proto-GermanicFrom Middle English hawe, from Old English haga (“enclosure, hedge”), from Proto-Germanic *hagô (compare West Frisian haach, Dutch haag, German Hag (“hedged farmland”), Norwegian Bokmål hage (“garden”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰom (compare Welsh cae (“field”), Latin caulae (“sheepfold, enclosure”), cohum (“strap between plowbeam and yoke”), Russian кош (koš, “tent”), коша́ра (košára, “sheepfold”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣa, “curtain wall”)), from *kagʰ- 'to catch, grasp' (compare Welsh cau (“to clasp”), Oscan kahad (“may he seize”).
Late Middle English (denoting a discharge from the eye), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Etymology 2 above, describing a berry.
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Forms
plural: hawsSynonyms
2 synonyms- a spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus:hawthorn