Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Verb

This isn’t the first time Temu has been dinged for hawing products tainted with hazardous chemicals. —

Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019 Many of the season’s 10 45-minute episodes are dedicated to Jackie hemming and hawing between them. —

Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Dec. 2023 No more lengthy hemming and hawing by the pitcher. —

Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 28 Mar. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English hawe, going back to Old English haga, weak masculine noun, formally identical with haga "fence, fenced enclosure, hedge" (whence Middle English hawe in same sense), going back to Germanic *hagan- (whence also Middle Dutch hage "thornbush," haghe "thornbush forming a border," Old Icelandic hagi "enclosed field, pasture"), derivative of a base *hag- seen also in *haga-, masculine a-stem, whence Old English hæg- "enclosure" (in placenames), Old High German hag "palisade, enclosed land"; in *hagi-, masculine i-stem, whence Old English hege "hedge, fence, boundary wall" (whence Middle English heye, haie, in part reflecting also Anglo-French haie "hedge, fence"), Middle Low German hege; in *hagjō hedge entry 1; in *hagna-, masculine a-stem, derivative with the suffix of appurtenance -na-, whence Old Saxon hagan "thornbush, buckthorn," Middle Dutch haghen "enclosure," Old High German hagan "thornbush, plants of the genera Crataegus and Rhamnus"; Germanic hag- going back to dialectal Indo-European *kag^h- "enclosure," whence also Celtic *kagi̯o- (whence Welsh cae "hedge, hedgerow, field," Cornish ke "hedge, ditch," Old Breton caiou glossing munimenta "defensive works, barrier," Breton kae "hedge, field") and probably Latin caulae, plural only, "railing, lattice forming a barrier" (going back to *kahelā)

Note: Old English haga in the sense "hawthorn berry" may have been extracted from hagaþorn hawthorn or an unattested compound with berie berry entry 1. Germanic *hag- "enclosure," with its numerous derivative stems, appears to have been intimately connected with the thorny plants such as Crataegus used to form hedges. — The northwest Indo-European etymon *kag^h- "enclosure" has been associated with a verb of the same form meaning approximately "grasp, enclose," which is hypothetically the source of Umbrian kukehes "you (or s/he) will reach," Oscan kahad "s/he takes," as well as some of the forms of Welsh cael "to get, receive" (see Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2. Auflage, p. 342). The Lexikon shows this form as both *kag^h- and *ḱag^h-, as *kag^h- violates an Indo-European root structure constraint (though comparable forms in a satem language are lacking); a stricter laryngealist notation would be *ḱh₂g^h-. Also connected with this verb is Latin cohum "hollow in the middle of a yoke"—see inchoate. See also quay.

Noun (2)

Middle English howe, hawe "morbid excrescence in the eye," of uncertain origin

Verb (1)

derivative of haw entry 3

Verb (2)

probably from haw entry 3 used as a command to an animal

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1523, in the meaning defined above

Interjection

1600, in the meaning defined above

Verb (1)

1632, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1777, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler

The first known use of haw was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Haw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haw. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

haw

1 of 3 verb

ˈhȯ

: to make a sound (as \ə\) which is usually written as haw

hemmed and hawed before answering

: to hesitate in speaking

haw

2 of 3 noun

: a pause in speaking filled by the sound which is usually written as haw

haw

3 of 3 imperative verb

—used as a direction to turn left

Medical Definition

haw

noun

ˈhȯ

: nictitating membrane

especially : an inflamed nictitating membrane of a domesticated mammal

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

victuals

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

haw

noun (1)

noun (2)

interjection

verb (1)

verb (2)

Examples of haw in a Sentence

Word History

Dictionary Entries Near haw

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

Medical Definition