<B>halve, </B>transitive verb, <B>halved,</B> <B>halving.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to divide into two equal parts; share equally. <BR> <I>Ex. He and I decided to halve expenses on our trip. The knight halved his bread with the beggar.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to reduce to half. <BR> <I>Ex. The new machine will easily halve the time and cost of doing the work by hand.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to join (two pieces of wood) by cutting out half the thickness of each at the point of joining. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Golf.) to complete (a hole, round, or match) with the same score as an opponent. </DL>
<A NAME="halves">
<B>halves, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> more than one half; plural of <B>half.</B> Two halves make one whole. <BR><I>expr. <B>by halves,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>not completely; partly. </I> <I>Ex. The poor farmer was forced to pay his bills by halves.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) imperfectly; in a half-hearted way. <BR> <I>Ex. Nadir, who did nothing by halves, was determined to pull off the mask (Jonas Hanway).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>go halves,</B> </I>to share equally. <BR> <I>Ex. Those that save themselves, and fly, go halves, at least, in the Victory (Samuel Butler).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="halyard">
<B>halyard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a rope or tackle used on a ship to raise or lower something, such as a sail, yard, or flag. Also, <B>halliard.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ham">
<B>ham, </B>noun, verb, <B>hammed,</B> <B>hamming.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>meat from the upper part of a hog's hind leg, usually salted and smoked. <DD><B> 2. </B>the upper part of an animal's hind leg, used for food. <DD><B> 3. </B>the back of the hock or the hock itself. <DD><B> 4. </B>the part of the leg back of the knee. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>an actor or performer who plays poorly and in an exaggerated manner. <DD><B> b. </B>poor or exaggerated acting. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) an amateur radio operator. <DD><I>v.i., v.t. </I> (Slang.) to act (a part) poorly or in an exaggerated manner; overplay. <BR><I>expr. <B>ham it up,</B> </I>(Slang.) to overact; overplay; ham. <BR> <I>Ex. He continued ... unhesitating, his face set sternly against the increasingly frenzied appeals to ham it up a bit (Punch).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>hams,</B> </I>the back of the thigh; thigh and buttock. <BR> <I>Ex. Squatting on their hams at respectful distance ... (Lippincott's Magazine).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ham">
<B>Ham, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a son of Noah, probably the second son, regarded as the legendary ancestor of African races (in the Bible, Genesis 5:32, 9:24). </DL>
<A NAME="hamada">
<B>hamada, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a rocky desert surface or region in northern Africa. </DL>
<A NAME="hamadryad">
<B>hamadryad, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ads,</B> <B>-ades.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Greek Mythology.) a wood nymph supposed to live and die with the tree she dwelt in; dryad. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=hamadryas baboon.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>the king cobra. </DL>
<A NAME="hamadryasbaboon">
<B>hamadryas baboon,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large baboon of Ethiopia, having a mane of long, gray hair on its head and shoulders; sacred baboon. </DL>
<A NAME="hamal">
<B>hamal, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Turkish or Oriental porter. Also, <B>hamaul,</B> <B>hammal,</B> <B>hummaul.</B> </DL>
<B>hamamelis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of shrubs or small trees with yellow flowers which appear after the leaves are gone; witch hazel. </DL>
<A NAME="haman">
<B>Haman, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the prime minister of the Persian king Ahasuerus, who plotted to kill all the Jews of the Persian Empire but was stopped by Queen Esther and was himself hanged on a gallows about 75 feet high (in the Bible, Esther 3-7). </DL>
<A NAME="hamartia">
<B>hamartia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the error of judgment or tragic flaw in the character of the hero of an ancient Greek tragedy. </DL>
<A NAME="hamate">
<B>hamate, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with a bone of the human carpus or wrist, closest to the ulna in the distal row. <DD><B> 2a. </B>shaped like a hook. <DD><B> b. </B>having a hooklike part. <DD><I>noun </I> the hamate bone; unciform. </DL>
<A NAME="hamaul">
<B>hamaul, </B>noun. <B>=hamal.</B></DL>
<A NAME="hambletonian">
<B>Hambletonian, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a breed of American trotting or harness horses. <DD><B> 2. </B>the main American trotting race, held annually at Du Quoin, Illinois. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a Hambletonian. </DL>
<A NAME="hamburg">
<B>hamburg, </B>noun. <B>=hamburger.</B></DL>
<A NAME="hamburg">
<B>Hamburg, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a black variety of grape, of German origin, widely grown in hothouses. <DD><B> 2. </B>any chicken of an old domestic breed of white-skinned poultry, with a rose comb and spangled, penciled, or solid black or white plumage. <DD><B> 3. </B>machine-made cotton embroidery. </DL>
<A NAME="hamburger">
<B>hamburger, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>ground beef, usually shaped into round, flat cakes and fried, grilled, or broiled. <DD><B> 2. </B>a sandwich made with hamburger, usually in a roll or bun. <BR> <I>Ex. a hamburger dripping with catchup.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="hamburg">
<B>Hamburg</B> or <B>hamburg steak,</B> <B>=hamburger </B>(def. 1).</DL>
<A NAME="hame">
<B>hame</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> either ofthe two curved pieces on either side of the collar in a horse's harness. The traces are fastened to the hames. </DL>
<B>Hamiltonian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), American statesman, or his political or financial principles. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865), a British mathematician, or his theories. <BR> <I>Ex. Hamiltonian mechanics.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a follower of Alexander Hamilton. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Mathematics, Physics.) a function defining the energy of a dynamic system in terms of generalized momenta, derived from certain equations formulated by Sir William Rowan Hamilton. </DL>
<A NAME="hamiltonianism">
<B>Hamiltonianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the political doctrines and economic theories of Alexander Hamilton, who emphasized the need for a strong federal government and defended the doctrine of implied powers in the Constitution. <DD><B> 2. </B>adherence to the doctrines or theories of Alexander Hamilton. </DL>
<A NAME="hamite">
<B>Hamite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a descendant of Ham (in the Bible, Genesis 10:6-20). <DD><B> 2. </B>a member of various ethnic groups in northern and eastern Africa, including the Berbers and the ancient Egyptians. </DL>
<A NAME="hamitic">
<B>Hamitic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with the Hamites. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with a family of languages in northern and eastern Africa, including ancient Egyptian, Berber, Coptic, Ethiopian, and others. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the Hamitic family of languages. <DD><B> 2. </B>a Hamitic language. </DL>
<A NAME="hamiticize">
<B>Hamiticize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-cized,</B> <B>-cizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology.) to cause to acquire the characteristics of Hamites. noun <B>Hamiticization.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="hamitoid">
<B>Hamitoid, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology.) of or resembling the Hamites. </DL>
<B>hamlet</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small village; little group of houses in the country. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British.) a village without a church of its own, but belonging to the parish of another village or town. </DL>
<A NAME="hamlet">
<B>hamlet</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a grouper (fish) of the eastern coast of tropical America. </DL>
<A NAME="hamlet">
<B>Hamlet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a tragedy by Shakespeare, first printed in 1603. <DD><B> 2. </B>the principal character in this play, a prince of Denmark, who avenges his father's murder. adj. <B>Hamletlike.</B> </DL>
