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[hang out] <v.> 1. <slang> To spend your time idly or lounging about. * /The teacher complained that Joe was hanging out in poolrooms instead of doing his homework./ Compare: HANG AROUND(1). 2. <slang> To live; reside. * /Two policemen stopped the stranger and asked him where he hung out./ 3. To reach out farther than the part below. * /The branches of the trees hung out over the road./ * /The upper floor of that house hangs out above the first./

[hang out one's shingle] <v. phr.>, <informal> To give public notice of the opening of an office, especially a doctor's or lawyer's office, by putting up a small signboard. * /The young doctor hung out his shingle and soon had a large practice./

[hangover] <n.> A bad feeling of nausea and/or headache the day after one has had too much to drink. * /Boy, did I have a hangover after that party yesterday!/

[hang over] <v.> 1. To be going to happen to; threaten. * /Great trouble hangs over the little town because its only factory has closed down./ 2. To remain to be finished or settled. * /The committee took up the business that hung over from its last meeting./

[hang over one's head] <v. phr.> To be a danger or threat to you. An overused phrase. * /Over Jimmy's head hung the teacher's suspicion that Jimmy had cheated in the final examination./ * /Death hangs over a bullfighter's head every time he performs./

[hang round] See: HANG AROUND.

[hang ten] <v.>, <slang> 1. To be an outstanding performer on a surfboard or on a skateboard (referring to the user's ten toes). * /I bet I am going to be able to hang ten if you let me practice on your skateboard./ 2. To be a survivor despite great odds. * /Don't worry about Jack, he can hang ten anywhere!/

[hang together] <v.> 1. To stay united; help and defend one another. * /The club members always hung together when one of them was in trouble./ Syn.: STICK TOGETHER. Compare: STAND BY, STAND UP FOR. 2. <informal> To form a satisfactory whole; fit together. * /Jack's story of why he was absent from school seems to hang together./

[hang up] <v.> 1. To place on a hook, peg, or hanger. * /When the children come to school, they hang up their coats in the cloakroom./ 2a. To place a telephone receiver back on its hook and break the connection. * /Carol's mother told her she had talked long enough on the phone and made her hang up./ 2b. To put a phone receiver back on its hook while the other person is still talking. - Used with "on". * /I said something that made Joe angry, and he hung up on me./ 3a. <informal> To cause to be stuck or held so as to be immovable. Usually used in the passive. * /Ann's car was hung up in a snowdrift and she had to call a garageman to get it out./ 3b. <informal> To stick or get held so as to be immovable. * /A big passenger ship hung up on a sandbar for several hours./ 4. <informal> To cause a wait; delay. * /Rehearsals for the school play were hung up by the illness of some of the actors./ 5. <informal> To set (a record.) * /Bob hung up a school record for long distance swimming./

[hang-up] <n.>, <informal> (stress on "hang") 1. A delay in some process. * /The mail has been late for several days; there must be some hang-up with the trucks somewhere./ 2. A neurotic reaction to some life situation probably stemming from a traumatic shock which has gone unconscious. * /Doctor Simpson believes that Suzie's frigidity is due to some hang-up about men./

[happen on] or [happen upon] <v.>, <literary> To meet or find accidentally or by chance. * /The Girl Scouts happened on a charming little brook not far from the camp./ * /At the convention I happened upon an old friend I had not seen for years./ Syn.: CHANCE ON, COME ACROSS(1),(3). Compare: HIT ON.

[happy] See: STRIKE A HAPPY MEDIUM, TRIGGER HAPPY at QUICK ON THE TRIGGER.

[happy as the day is long] <adj. phr.> Cheerful and happy. * /Carl is happy as the day is long because school is over for the summer./

[happy-go-lucky] See: FOOTLOOSE AND FANCY-FREE.

[happy hour] <n.>, <informal> A time in bars or restaurants when cocktails are served at a reduced rate, usually one hour before they start serving dinner. * /Happy hour is between 6 and 7 P.M. at Celestial Gardens./

[happy hunting ground] <n. phr.> 1. The place where, in American Indian belief, a person goes after death; heaven. * /The Indians believed that at death they went to the happy hunting ground./ 2. <informal> A place or area where you can find a rich variety of what you want, and plenty of it. * /The forest is a happy hunting ground for scouts who are interested in plants and flowers./ * /Shell collectors find the ocean beaches happy hunting grounds./

[hard] See: GIVE A HARD TIME, GO HARD WITH, SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.

[hard-and-fast] <adj.> Not to be broken or changed; fixed; strict. * /The teacher said that there was a hard-and-fast rule against smoking in the school./

[hard as nails] <adj. phr.>, <informal> 1. Not flabby or soft; physically very fit; tough and strong. * /After a summer of work in the country, Jack was as hard as nails, without a pound of extra weight./ 2. Not gentle or mild; rough; stern. * /Johnny works for a boss who is as hard as nails and scolds Johnny roughly whenever he does something wrong./

[hard-boiled] <adj.> Unrefined; tough; merciless. * /"Because you were two minutes late," my hard-boiled boss cried, "I will deduct fifteen minutes worth from your salary!"/

[hard cash] See: COLD CASH.

[hard feeling] <n.> Angry or bitter feeling; enmity. - Usually used in the plural. * /Jim asked Andy to shake hands with him, just to show that there were no hard feelings./ * /Bob and George once quarreled over a girl, and there are still hard feelings between them./

[hard-fisted] <adj.> 1. Able to do hard physical labor; strong. * /Jack's uncle was a hard-fisted truck driver with muscles of steel./ 2. Not gentle or easy-going; tough; stern. * /The new teacher was a hard-fisted woman who would allow no nonsense./ 3. Stingy or mean; not generous with money. * /The hard-fisted banker refused to lend Mr. Jones more money for his business./

[hard going] <adj. phr.> Fraught with difficulty. * /Dave finds his studies of math hard going./

[hardheaded] <adj.> Stubborn; shrewd; practical. * /Don is a hardheaded businessman who made lots of money, even during the recession./

[hardhearted] <adj.> Unsympathetic; merciless. * /Jack is so hardhearted that even his own children expect nothing from him./

[hard-hitting] <adj.> Working hard to get things done; strong and active; stubbornly eager. * /The boys put on a hard-hitting drive to raise money for uniforms for the football team./ * /He is a hard-hitting and successful football coach./

[hard line] <n. phr.> Tough political policy. * /Although modern economists were trying to persuade him to open up to the West, Castro has always taken the hard line approach./

[hard-liner] <n.> A politician who takes the hard line. See: HARD LINE.

[hard luck] See: TOUGH LUCK.

[hardly any] or [scarcely any] Almost no or almost none; very few. * /Hardly any of the students did well on the test, so the teacher explained the lesson again./ * /Charles and his friends each had three cookies, and when they went out, hardly any cookies were left./

[hardly ever] or [scarcely ever] <adv. phr.> Very rarely; almost never; seldom. * /It hardly ever snows in Florida./ * /Johnny hardly ever reads a book./

[hard-nosed] <adj.>, <slang> Tough or rugged; very strict; not weak or soft; stubborn, especially in a fight or contest. * /Joe's father was a hard-nosed army officer who had seen service in two wars./ * /Pete is a good boy; he plays hard-nosed football./ Compare: HARD-BOILED.

[hard nut to crack] also [tough nut to crack] <n. phr.>, <informal> Something difficult to understand or to do. * /Tom's algebra lesson was a hard nut to crack./ * /Mary found knitting a hard nut to crack./ Compare: HARD ROW TO HOE.

[hard of hearing] <adj.> Partially deaf. * /Some people who are hard of hearing wear hearing aids./

[hard-on] <n.>, <vulgar>, <avoidable>. An erection of the male sexual organ.

[hard put] or [hard put to it] <adj.> In a difficult position; faced with difficulty; barely able. * /John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school./ * /The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home./

[hard row to hoe] or [tough row to hoe] <n. phr.> A hard life to live; a very hard job to do. * /She has a hard row to hoe with six children and her husband dead./ * /Young people without enough education will have a tough row to hoe when they have to support themselves./ Syn.: HARD SLEDDING. Compare: DOWN ON ONE'S LUCK, HARD NUT TO CRACK.

[hard sell] <n.>, <informal> A kind of salesmanship characterized by great vigor, aggressive persuasion, and great eagerness on the part of the person selling something; opposed to "soft sell". * /Your hard sell turns off a lot of people; try the soft sell for a change, won't you?/

[hard sledding] or [rough sledding] or [tough sledding] <n.>, <informal> Difficulty in succeeding or making progress. * /Jane had hard sledding in her math course because she was poorly prepared./ * /When Mr. Smith started his new business, he had tough sledding for a while but things got better./

[hard-top] <n.> 1. A car that has a metal roof; a car that is not a convertible. * /Every spring Mr. Jones sells his hard-top and buys a convertible./ 2. or [hardtop convertible] A car with windows that can be completely lowered with no partitions left standing, and with a top that may or may not be lowered. * /Mr. Brown's new car is a hardtop convertible./

[hard up] <adj.>, <informal> Without enough money or some other needed thing. * /Dick was hard up and asked Lou to lend him a dollar./ * /The campers were hard up for water because their well had run dry./ Compare: UP AGAINST IT.

[hard way] <n.> The harder or more punishing of two or more ways to solve a problem, do something, or learn something. - Used with "the". * /The mayor refused the help of the crooks and won the election the hard way by going out to meet the people./ * /The challenger found out the hard way that the champion's left hand had to be avoided./

[hare] See: MAD AS A HATTER or MAD AS A MARCH HARE, RUN WITH THE HARE AND HUNT (RIDE) WITH THE HOUNDS.

[harebrained] <adj.> Thoughtless; foolish. * /Most of the harebrained things Ed does may be attributable to his youth and lack of experience./

[hark back] <v.>, <literary> 1. To recall or turn back to an earlier time or happening. * /Judy is always harking back to the good times she had at camp./ 2. To go back to something as a beginning or origin. * /The cars of today hark back to the first automobiles made about 1900./ * /The slit in the back of a man's coal harks back to the days when men rode horseback./

[harp away at] or [on] <v.> To mention again and again. * /In his campaign speeches, Jones harps on his rival's wealth and powerful friends./

[Harry] See: TOM, DICK, AND HARRY.

[harum-scarum(1)] <adv.>, <informal> In a careless, disorderly or reckless way. * /Jim does his homework harum-scarum, and that is why his schoolwork is so poor./

[harum-scarum(2)] <adj.>, <informal> Careless, wild, or disorderly in one's acts or performance; reckless. * /Jack is such a harum-scarum boy that you can never depend on him to do anything right./

[hash] See: SETTLE ONE'S HASH, SLING HASH.

[hash house] <n.>, <slang> An eating place where cheap meals are served. * /Joe and his friends went to a hash house around the corner after the game./

[hash out] <v.>, <informal> To talk all about and try to agree on; discuss thoroughly. * /The teacher asked Susan and Jane to sit down together and hash out their differences./ * /The students hashed out the matter and decided to drop it./

[hash up] <v.>, <slang> 1. To make a mess of; do badly. * /Bob really hashed up that exam and failed the course./ 2. To bring to life; remember and talk about. * /The teacher advised Sue not to hash up old bitterness against her schoolmates./

[haste] See: MAKE HASTE.

[hat] See: AT THE DROP OF A HAT, BRASS HAT, HANG ON TO YOUR HAT or HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT or HOLD YOUR HAT, HIGH-HAT, KEEP UNDER ONE'S HAT, OLD HAT, PULL OUT OF A HAT, TAKE OFF ONE'S HAT TO, TALK THROUGH ONE'S HAT, TEN-GALLON HAT, THROW ONE'S HAT IN THE RING.

[hat in hand] <adv. phr.>, <informal> In a humble and respectful manner. * /They went hat in hand to the old woman to ask for her secret recipe./

[hatch] See: COUNT ONE'S CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED.

[hatchet] See: BURY THE HATCHET.

[hatchet face] <n.> A long narrow face with sharp parts; also, a person with such a face. * /Johnny was sent to the principal's office because he called his teacher old hatchet face./ * /He was hatchet-faced and not at all handsome./

[hatchet job] <n. phr.>, <slang> 1. The act of saying or writing terrible things about someone or something, usually on behalf of one's boss or organization. * /When Phil makes speeches against the competition exaggerating their weaknesses, he is doing the hatchet job on behalf of our president./ 2. A ruthless, wholesale job of editing a script whereby entire paragraphs or pages are omitted. * /Don, my editor, did a hatchet job on my new novel./

[hatchet man] <n.>, <colloquial> 1. A politician or newspaper columnist whose job is to write and say unfavorable things about the opposition. * /Bill Lerner is the hatchet man for the Mayor's Party; he smears all the other candidates regularly./ 2. An executive officer in a firm whose job it is to fire superfluous personnel, cut back on the budget, etc., in short, to do the necessary but unpleasant things. * /The firm hired Cranhart to be hatchet man; his title is that of Executive Vice President./

[hate one's guts] <v. phr.>, <slang> To feel a very strong dislike for someone. * /Dick said that he hated Fred's guts because Fred had been very mean to him./

[hats off to] or [one's hat is off to] <truncated phr.>, <informal> Used to recognize and praise a job well-done. * /Hats off to anyone who runs the twenty-six mile race./ * /My hat is off to the chef who created this delicious meal./ Compare: TAKE OFF ONE'S HAT TO.

[hatter] See: MAD AS A HATTER.

[haul] See: LONG HAUL.

[haul down] <v.>, <informal> 1. To catch (as a ball) usually after a long run. * /Willie hauled down a long fly to center field for the third out./ * /The star halfback hauled down the pass for a touchdown./ 2. To tackle in football. * /Ted was hauled down from behind when he tried to run with the ball./

[haul down one's colors] or [strike one's colors] <v. phr.> 1. To pull down a flag, showing you are beaten and want to stop fighting. * /After a long battle, the pirate captain hauled down his colors./ 2. To admit you are beaten; say you want to quit. * /After losing two sets of tennis, Tom hauled down his color./