Hecatompedon Hec`a·tom"pe·don noun [ Greek ... hundred feet long, ... ... the Parthenon; ... hundred + ... foot.] (Architecture) A name given to the old Parthenon at Athens, because measuring 100 Greek feet, probably in the width across the stylobate.

Hecdecane Hec"de·cane noun [ Greek ... six + ... ten.] (Chemistry) A white, semisolid, spermaceti-like hydrocarbon, C ₁₆ H ₃₄ , of the paraffin series, found dissolved as an important ingredient of kerosene, and so called because each molecule has sixteen atoms of carbon; -- called also hexadecane .

Heck Heck noun [ See Hatch a half door.] [ Written also hack .] 1. The bolt or latch of a door. [ Prov. Eng.]

2. A rack for cattle to feed at. [ Prov. Eng.]

3. A door, especially one partly of latticework; -- called also heck door . [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

4. A latticework contrivance for catching fish.

5. (Weaving) An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.

6. A bend or winding of a stream. [ Prov. Eng.]

Half heck , the lower half of a door. -- Heck board , the loose board at the bottom or back of a cart. -- Heck box or frame , that which carries the heck in warping.

Heckerism Heck"er·ism noun (R. C. Ch.) (a) The teaching of Isaac Thomas Hecker (1819- 88), which interprets Catholicism as promoting human aspirations after liberty and truth, and as the religion best suited to the character and institutions of the American people. (b) Improperly, certain views or principles erroneously ascribed to Father Hecker in a French translation of Elliott's Life of Hecker. They were condemned as "Americanism" by the Pope, in a letter to Cardinal Gibbons, January 22, 1899.

Heckimal Heck"i·mal noun (Zoology) The European blue titmouse ( Parus cœruleus ). [ Written also heckimel , hackeymal , hackmall , hagmall , and hickmall .]

Heckle Hec"kle noun & transitive verb Same as Hackle .

Heckle Hec"kle transitive verb To interrogate, or ply with questions, esp. with severity or antagonism, as a candidate for the ministry.

Robert bore heckling , however, with great patience and adroitness.

Mrs. Humphry Ward.

Hectare Hec"tare` noun [ French, from Greek ... hundred + French are an are.] A measure of area, or superficies, containing a hundred ares, or 10,000 square meters, and equivalent to 2.471 acres.

Hectic Hec"tic adjective [ French hectique , Greek ... habitual, consumptive, from ... habit, a habit of body or mind, from ... to have; akin to Sanskrit sah to overpower, endure; confer Anglo-Saxon sige , sigor , victory, German sieg , Goth. sigis . Confer Scheme .] 1. Habitual; constitutional; pertaining especially to slow waste of animal tissue, as in consumption; as, a hectic type in disease; a hectic flush.

2. In a hectic condition; having hectic fever; consumptive; as, a hectic patient.

Hectic fever (Medicine) , a fever of irritation and debility, occurring usually at a advanced stage of exhausting disease, as a in pulmonary consumption.

Hectic Hec"tic noun 1. (Medicine) Hectic fever.

2. A hectic flush.

It is no living hue, but a strange hectic .

Byron.

Hectocotylized Hec`to·cot"y·lized adjective (Zoology) Changed into a hectocotylus; having a hectocotylis.

Hectocotylus Hec`to·cot"y·lus noun ; plural Hectocotyli . [ New Latin , from Greek ... a hundred + ... a hollow vessel.] (Zoology) One of the arms of the male of most kinds of cephalopods, which is specially modified in various ways to effect the fertilization of the eggs. In a special sense, the greatly modified arm of Argonauta and allied genera, which, after receiving the spermatophores, becomes detached from the male, and attaches itself to the female for reproductive purposes.

Hectogram Hec"to·gram noun [ French hectogramme , from Greek ... hundred + French gramme a gram.] A measure of weight, containing a hundred grams, or about 3.527 ounces avoirdupois.

Hectogramme Hec"to·gramme noun [ French] The same as Hectogram .

Hectograph Hec"to·graph noun [ Greek ... hundred + -graph .] A contrivance for multiple copying, by means of a surface of gelatin softened with glycerin. [ Written also hectograph .]

Hectoliter, Hectolitre Hec"to·li`ter, Hec"to·li`tre noun [ French hectolitre , from Greek ... hundred + French litre a liter.] A measure of liquids, containing a hundred liters; equal to a tenth of a cubic meter, nearly 26½ gallons of wine measure, or 22.0097 imperial gallons. As a dry measure, it contains ten decaliters, or about 2⅚ Winchester bushels.

Hectometer, Hectometre Hec"to·me`ter, Hec"to·me`tre noun [ French ... hectomètre , from Greek ... hundred + French mètre a meter.] A measure of length, equal to a hundred meters. It is equivalent to 328.09 feet.

Hector Hec"tor noun [ From the Trojan warrior Hector , the son of Priam.] A bully; a blustering, turbulent, insolent, fellow; one who vexes or provokes.

Hector Hec"tor transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Hectored ; present participle & verbal noun Hectoring .] To treat with insolence; to threaten; to bully; hence, to torment by words; to tease; to taunt; to worry or irritate by bullying. Dryden.

Hector Hec"tor intransitive verb To play the bully; to bluster; to be turbulent or insolent. Swift.

Hectorism Hec"to·rism noun The disposition or the practice of a hector; a bullying. [ R.]

Hectorly Hec"tor·ly adjective Resembling a hector; blustering; insolent; taunting. " Hectorly , ruffianlike swaggering or huffing." Barrow.

Hectostere Hec"to·stere noun [ French hectostère ; Greek ... hundred + French stère .] A measure of solidity, containing one hundred cubic meters, and equivalent to 3531.66 English or 3531.05 United States cubic feet.

Heddle Hed"dle noun ; plural Heddles . [ Confer Heald .] (Weaving) One of the sets of parallel doubled threads which, with mounting, compose the harness employed to guide the warp threads to the lathe or batten in a loom.

Heddle Hed"dle transitive verb To draw (the warp thread) through the heddle-eyes, in weaving.

Heddle-eye Hed"dle-eye` noun (Weaving) The eye or loop formed in each heddle to receive a warp thread.

Heddling Hed"dling verbal noun The act of drawing the warp threads through the heddle-eyes of a weaver's harness; the harness itself. Knight.

Hederaceous Hed`er·a"ceous adjective [ Latin hederaceus , from hedera ivy.] Of, pertaining to, or resembling, ivy.

Hederal Hed"er·al adjective Of or pertaining to ivy.

Hederic He·der"ic adjective Pertaining to, or derived from, the ivy ( Hedera ); as, hederic acid, an acid of the acetylene series.

Hederiferous Hed`er·if"er·ous adjective [ Latin hedera ivy + -ferous .] Producing ivy; ivy- bearing.

Hederose Hed"er·ose` adjective [ Latin hederosus , from hedera ivy.] Pertaining to, or of, ivy; full of ivy.

Hedge Hedge noun [ Middle English hegge , Anglo-Saxon hecg ; akin to haga an inclosure, English haw , Anglo-Saxon hege hedge, English hay bote, Dutch hegge , Old High German hegga , German hecke . √12. See Haw a hedge.] A thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes; especially, such a thicket planted as a fence between any two portions of land; and also any sort of shrubbery, as evergreens, planted in a line or as a fence; particularly, such a thicket planted round a field to fence it, or in rows to separate the parts of a garden.

The roughest berry on the rudest hedge .

Shak.

Through the verdant maze
Of sweetbrier hedges I pursue my walk.

Thomson.

» Hedge , when used adjectively or in composition, often means rustic , outlandish , illiterate , poor , or mean ; as, hedge priest; hedge born, etc.

Hedge bells , Hedge bindweed (Botany) , a climbing plant related to the morning-glory ( Convolvulus sepium ). -- Hedge bill , a long-handled billhook. -- Hedge garlic (Botany) , a plant of the genus Alliaria . See Garlic mustard , under Garlic . -- Hedge hyssop (Botany) , a bitter herb of the genus Gratiola , the leaves of which are emetic and purgative. - - Hedge marriage , a secret or clandestine marriage, especially one performed by a hedge priest. [ Eng.] -- Hedge mustard (Botany) , a plant of the genus Sisymbrium , belonging to the Mustard family. -- Hedge nettle (Botany) , an herb, or under shrub, of the genus Stachys , belonging to the Mint family. It has a nettlelike appearance, though quite harmless. -- Hedge note . (a) The note of a hedge bird. (b) Low, contemptible writing. [ Obsolete] Dryden. -- Hedge priest , a poor, illiterate priest. Shak. -- Hedge school , an open-air school in the shelter of a hedge, in Ireland; a school for rustics. -- Hedge sparrow (Zoology) , a European warbler ( Accentor modularis ) which frequents hedges. Its color is reddish brown, and ash; the wing coverts are tipped with white. Called also chanter , hedge warbler , dunnock , and doney . -- Hedge writer , an insignificant writer, or a writer of low, scurrilous stuff. [ Obsolete] Swift. -- To breast up a hedge . See under Breast . -- To hang in the hedge , to be at a standstill. "While the business of money hangs in the hedge ." Pepys.

Hedge Hedge transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Hedged ; present participle & verbal noun Hedging .] 1. To inclose or separate with a hedge; to fence with a thickly set line or thicket of shrubs or small trees; as, to hedge a field or garden.

2. To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out .

I will hedge up thy way with thorns.

Hos. ii. 6.

Lollius Urbius . . . drew another wall . . . to hedge out incursions from the north.

Milton.

3. To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in). "England, hedged in with the main." Shak.

4. To surround so as to prevent escape.

That is a law to hedge in the cuckoo.

Locke.

To hedge a bet , to bet upon both sides; that is, after having bet on one side, to bet also on the other, thus guarding against loss.

Hedge Hedge intransitive verb 1. To shelter one's self from danger, risk, duty, responsibility, etc., as if by hiding in or behind a hedge; to skulk; to slink; to shirk obligations.

I myself sometimes, leaving the fear of God on the left hand and hiding mine honor in my necessity, am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to lurch.

Shak.

2. (Betting) To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on.

3. To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite.

The Heroic Stanzas read much more like an elaborate attempt to hedge between the parties than . . . to gain favor from the Roundheads.

Saintsbury.

Hedgeborn Hedge"born` adjective Born under a hedge; of low birth. Shak.

Hedgebote Hedge"bote` noun (Eng. Law) Same as Haybote .

Hedgehog Hedge"hog` noun 1. (Zoology) A small European insectivore ( Erinaceus Europæus ), and other allied species of Asia and Africa, having the hair on the upper part of its body mixed with prickles or spines. It is able to roll itself into a ball so as to present the spines outwardly in every direction. It is nocturnal in its habits, feeding chiefly upon insects.

2. (Zoology) The Canadian porcupine. [ U.S]

3. (Botany) A species of Medicago ( M. intertexta ), the pods of which are armed with short spines; -- popularly so called. Loudon.

4. A form of dredging machine. Knight.

Hedgehog caterpillar (Zoology) , the hairy larvæ of several species of bombycid moths, as of the Isabella moth. It curls up like a hedgehog when disturbed. See Woolly bear , and Isabella moth . -- Hedgehog fish (Zoology) , any spinose plectognath fish, esp. of the genus Diodon ; the porcupine fish. -- Hedgehog grass (Botany) , a grass with spiny involucres, growing on sandy shores; burgrass ( Cenchrus tribuloides ). -- Hedgehog rat (Zoology) , one of several West Indian rodents, allied to the porcupines, but with ratlike tails, and few quills, or only stiff bristles. The hedgehog rats belong to Capromys , Plagiodon , and allied genera. -- Hedgehog shell (Zoology) , any spinose, marine, univalve shell of the genus Murex . -- Hedgehog thistle (Botany) , a plant of the Cactus family, globular in form, and covered with spines ( Echinocactus ). -- Sea hedgehog . See Diodon .

Hedgehog Hedge"hog` noun (Electricity) A variety of transformer with open magnetic circuit, the ends of the iron wire core being turned outward and presenting a bristling appearance, whence the name.

Hedgeless Hedge"less adjective Having no hedge.

Hedgepig Hedge"pig` noun A young hedgehog. Shak.

Hedger Hedg"er noun One who makes or mends hedges; also, one who hedges, as, in betting.

Hedgerow Hedge"row` noun A row of shrubs, or trees, planted for inclosure or separation of fields.

By hedgerow elms and hillocks green.

Milton.

Hedging bill Hedg"ing bill` A hedge bill. See under Hedge .

Hedonic He·don"ic adjective [ Greek ..., from ... pleasure, ... sweet, pleasant.] 1. Pertaining to pleasure.

2. Of or relating to Hedonism or the Hedonic sect.

Hedonic sect a sect that placed the highest good in the gratification of the senses, -- called also Cyrenaic sect , (which see), and School of Aristippus .

Hedonics He·don"ics noun (Philos.) That branch of moral philosophy which treats of the relation of duty to pleasure; the science of practical, positive enjoyment or pleasure. J. Grote.

Hedonism Hed"on·ism noun 1. The doctrine of the Hedonic sect.

2. The ethical theory which finds the explanation and authority of duty in its tendency to give pleasure.

Hedonist Hed"on·ist noun One who believes in hedonism.

Hedonistic Hed`o·nis"tic adjective Same as Hedonic , 2.

Heed Heed (hēd) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Heeded ; present participle & verbal noun Heeding .] [ Middle English heden , Anglo-Saxon hēdan ; akin to Old Saxon hōdian , Dutch hoeden , Fries. hoda , Old High German huoten , German hüten , Danish hytte . √13. Confer Hood .] To mind; to regard with care; to take notice of; to attend to; to observe.

With pleasure Argus the musician heeds .

Dryden.

Syn. -- To notice; regard; mind. See Attend , transitive verb

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