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Host

To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment.

Hosta

A genus of robust East Asian clump-forming perennial herbs having racemose flowers: plantain lilies; sometimes placed in the family Hostaceae.

Hostaceae

One of many families or subfamilies into which some classification systems subdivide the Liliaceae but not widely accepted; includes genus Hosta.

Hostage

A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or stipulations of any kind, on the performance of which the person is to be released.

Hostess

A female host; a woman who hospitably entertains guests at her house.

Hostess-ship

The character, personality, or office of a hostess.

Hostie

The consecrated wafer; the host.

Hostile

An enemy; esp., an American Indian in arms against the whites; -- commonly in the plural.

hostile takeover

the purchase of a controlling interest in a publicly-traded company against the wishes of the current management.

hostilities

a legal state created by a declaration of war and ended by official declaration, during which the international rules of war apply.

Hostility

State of being hostile; public or private enemy; unfriendliness; animosity.

Hostilize

To make hostile; to cause to become an enemy.

Hostler

An innkeeper. [Obs.] See Hosteler.

Hostry

A hostelry; an inn or lodging house.

Hot

Having much sensible heat; exciting the feeling of warmth in a great degree; very warm; -- opposed to cold, and exceeding warm in degree; as, a hot stove; hot water or air.

hot cross bun

A bun or cake marked with a cross of icing, and intended to be eaten on Good Friday; called also cross bun.

Hot-blooded

Having hot blood; excitable; high-spirited; irritable; ardent; passionate.

Hot-brained

Ardent in temper; violent; rash; impetuous; as, hot-brained youth.

Hot-head

A violent, passionate person; a hasty or impetuous person; as, the rant of a hot-head.

Hot-headed

quickly and easily aroused to anger; fiery; violent; rash; hasty; impetuous; vehement; as, a hot-headed commander.

Hot-livered

Of an excitable or irritable temperament; irascible.

Hot-short

Brittle when heated, esp. beyond a red heat; as, hot-short iron.

hot-wire

to start (a car) by using a wire instead of a key, as when stealing the car; the wire is connected to points in the ignition circuit that bypass the key.

Hotbed

A bed of earth heated by fermenting manure or other substances, and covered with glass, intended for raising early plants, or for nourishing exotics.

Hotchpotch Hotchpot

A mingled mass; a confused mixture; a stew of various ingredients; a hodgepodge.

Hotcockles

A childish play, in which one covers his eyes, and guesses who strikes him or his hand placed behind him.

Hote

To command; to enjoin.

hotei-chiku

A small bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) of Southeast China having slender culms flexuous when young.

Hotel

A house for entertaining strangers or travelers; an inn or public house, of the better class.

Hothouse

A house kept warm to shelter tender plants and shrubs from the cold air; a place in which the plants of warmer climates may be reared, and fruits ripened.

Hotly

In a hot or fiery manner; ardently; vehemently; violently; hastily; as, a hotly pursued.

Hotness

The quality or state of being hot.

Hotpress

To apply heat to, in conjunction with mechanical pressure, for the purpose of giving a smooth and glossy surface, or to express oil, etc.; as, to hotpress paper, linen, etc.

Hotpressed

Pressed while heat is applied. See Hotpress, v. t.

Hotshot

a successful, self-confident person who is regarded by others as highly skilled; -- sometimes used ironically in reference to aggressive persons whose opinion of their own talents is considered exaggerated.

hotshot

highly talented, self-confident and successful.

Hottentot

One of a degraded-- "pastoral", in MW10 --> and savage race of South Africa, with yellowish brown complexion, high cheek bones, and wooly hair growing in tufts.

Hottentotism

A term employed to describe one of the varieties of stammering.

Hough Hock

The joint in the hind limb of quadrupeds between the leg and shank, or tibia and tarsus, and corresponding to the ankle in man. A piece cut by butchers, esp. in pork, from either the front or hind leg, just above the foot.

houhere

A small tree or shrub (Hoheria populnea) of New Zealand having a profusion of axillary clusters of honey-scented paper-white flowers and whose bark is used for cordage.

Hoult

A piece of woodland; a small wood. [Obs.] See Holt.

Hound

To set on the chase; to incite to pursuit; as, to hounda dog at a hare; to hound on pursuers.

Hound's-tongue

A biennial weed (Cynoglossum officinale), with soft tongue-shaped leaves, and an offensive odor. It bears nutlets covered with barbed or hooked prickles. Called also dog's-tongue.

Houndfish

Any small shark of the genus Galeus or Mustelus, of which there are several species, as the smooth houndfish (Galeus canis), of Europe and America; -- called also houndshark, and dogfish.

Hour

The twenty-fourth part of a day; sixty minutes.

Hourglass

An instrument for measuring time, especially the interval of an hour. It consists of a glass vessel having two compartments, from the uppermost of which a quantity of sand, water, or mercury occupies an hour in running through a small aperture unto the lower.

Houri

A nymph of paradise; -- so called by the Muslims.

Hourly

Every hour; frequently; continually.

Hours

Goddess of the seasons, or of the hours of the day.

Housage

A fee for keeping goods in a house.

House

To take shelter or lodging; to abide to dwell; to lodge.

house-proud

proud of one's house or its furnishings or upkeep.

house-raising

A gathering for the construction of a house by a group of neighbors, usually in a rural community, and sometimes accomplished in a single day; similar to a barn-raising.

house-to-house

omitting no one; proceeding from the door of one house to that of the next; as, house-to-house canvassing.

houseboat

a barge that is designed and equipped for use as a dwelling.

Housebote

Wood allowed to a tenant for repairing the house and for fuel. This latter is often called firebote. See Bote.

housebound

confined to the home, usually due to illness.

housebreak

to train a pet to live cleanly in a house, especially by training it to defecate and urinate in designated boxes.

Housebreaker

One who is guilty of the crime of housebreaking.

Housebreaking

The act of breaking open and entering, with a felonious purpose, the dwelling house of another, whether done by day or night. See Burglary, and To break a house, under Break.

housebroken

trained to urinate and defecate outside or in a special place, such as a litter box; as, housebroken pets; -- of pet animals.

Housebuilder

One whose business is to build houses; a housewright.

Housecarl

A household servant; also, one of the bodyguard of King Canute.

housefather

a man in charge of children in an institution.

housefly

common fly (Musca domestica) that frequents human habitations and spreads many diseases.

houseful

as many as a house will accommodate; as, they entertained a houseful of guests.

Household

Belonging to the house and family; domestic; as, household furniture; household affairs.

Householder

The master or head of a family; one who occupies a house with his family.

Housekeeper

One who occupies a house with his family; a householder; the master or mistress of a family.

Housekeeping

Domestic; used in a family; as, housekeeping commodities.

Housel

To administer the eucharist to.

Houseleek

A succulent plant of the genus Sempervivum (Sempervivum tectorum), originally a native of subalpine Europe, but now found very generally on old walls and roofs. It is very tenacious of life under drought and heat; -- called also ayegreen.

Houseless

Destitute of the shelter of a house; shelterless; homeless; as, a houseless wanderer.

Houseline

A small line of three strands used for seizing; -- called also housing.

Housemaid

A female servant employed to do housework, esp. to take care of the rooms.

houseman

an advanced student or graduate in medicine gaining supervised practical experience in a hospital or other medical institution.

housemaster

A teacher in charge of a school boardinghouse.

Housemate

One who dwells in the same house with another.

houseplant

any of a variety of plants grown indoors for decorative purposes.

Houseroom

Room or place in a house; as, to give any one houseroom.

housetop

The roof of a house, especially the flat part of a roof; as, shout it from the housetops.

Housewarming

A feast or merry-making made by or for a family or business firm on taking possession of a new house or premises.

Housewife

The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.

Housewifely

Pertaining or appropriate to a housewife; domestic; economical; prudent.

Housewifery

The business of the mistress of a family; female management of domestic concerns.

Housewive Housewife

To manage with skill and economy, as a housewife or other female manager; to economize.

Housework

The work belonging to housekeeping; especially, kitchen work, sweeping, scrubbing, bed making, and the like.

Housing

A cover or cloth for a horse's saddle, as an ornamental or military appendage; a saddlecloth; a horse cloth; in plural, trappings.

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