Halser (has"ẽr) noun See Hawser . Pope.

Halt (halt), 3d pers. sing. present of Hold , contraction for holdeth . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Halt (halt) noun [ Formerly alt , Italian alto , German halt , from halten to hold. See Hold .] A stop in marching or walking, or in any action; arrest of progress.

Without any halt they marched.

Clarendon.

[ Lovers] soon in passion's war contest,
Yet in their march soon make a halt .

Davenant.

Halt intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Halted ; present participle & verbal noun Halting .]
1. To hold one's self from proceeding; to hold up; to cease progress; to stop for a longer or shorter period; to come to a stop; to stand still.

2. To stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; to hesitate; to be uncertain.

How long halt ye between two opinions?

1 Kings xviii. 21.

Halt (halt) transitive verb (Mil.) To cause to cease marching; to stop; as, the general halted his troops for refreshment.

Halt adjective [ Anglo-Saxon healt ; akin to Old Saxon , Dan., & Swedish halt , Icelandic haltr , halltr , Goth. halts , Old High German halz .] Halting or stopping in walking; lame.

Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt , and the blind.

Luke xiv. 21.

Halt noun The act of limping; lameness.

Halt intransitive verb [ Middle English halten , Anglo-Saxon healtian . See Halt , adjective ]

1. To walk lamely; to limp.

2. To have an irregular rhythm; to be defective.

The blank verse shall halt for it.

Shak.

Halter (-ẽr) noun One who halts or limps; a cripple.

Halter (hal"tẽr) noun [ Middle English halter , helter , helfter , Anglo-Saxon hælftre ; akin to German halfter , Dutch halfter , halster , and also to English helve . See Helve .] A strong strap or cord. Especially: (a) A rope or strap, with or without a headstall, for leading or tying a horse. (b) A rope for hanging malefactors; a noose. Shak.

No man e'er felt the halter draw
With good opinion of the law.

Trumbull.

Halter transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Haltered (-tẽrd); present participle & verbal noun Haltering .] To tie by the neck with a rope, strap, or halter; to put a halter on; to subject to a hangman's halter. "A haltered neck." Shak.

Halter-sack (hal"tẽr*săk`) noun A term of reproach, implying that one is fit to be hanged. [ Obsolete] Beau. & Fl.

Halteres (hăl*tē"rēz) noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek "alth^res weights used in jumping, from "a`llesqai to leap.] (Zoology) Balancers; the rudimentary hind wings of Diptera.

Haltingly (halt"ĭng*lȳ) adverb In a halting or limping manner.

Halvans (hăl"v a nz) noun plural (Mining) Impure ore; dirty ore. Raymond.

Halve (häl"v e ) noun A half. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Halve (häv) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Halved (hävd); present participle & verbal noun Halving .] [ From Half .]
1. To divide into two equal parts; as, to halve an apple; to be or form half of.

So far apart their lives are thrown
From the twin soul that halves their own.

M. Arnold.

2. (Architecture) To join, as two pieces of timber, by cutting away each for half its thickness at the joining place, and fitting together.

Halve transitive verb Of a hole, match, etc., to reach or play in the same number of strokes as an opponent.

Halved (hävd) adjective Appearing as if one side, or one half, were cut away; dimidiate.

Halves (hävz) noun , plural of Half .

By halves , by one half at once; halfway; fragmentarily; partially; incompletely.

I can not believe by halves ; either I have faith, or I have it not.

J. H. Newman.

To go halves . See under Go .

Halwe (häl"w e ) noun [ Middle English , from Anglo-Saxon hālga . See Holy .] A saint. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Halyard (hăl"yẽrd) noun [ Hale , transitive verb + yard .] (Nautical) A rope or tackle for hoisting or lowering yards, sails, flags, etc. [ Written also halliard , haulyard .]

Halysites (hăl`ĭ*sī"tēz) noun [ New Latin , from Greek "a`lysis a chain.] (Paleon.) A genus of Silurian fossil corals; the chain corals. See Chain coral , under Chain .

Ham (häm) noun Home. [ North of Eng.] Chaucer.

Ham (hăm) noun [ Anglo-Saxon ham ; akin to Dutch ham , dial. German hamme , Old High German hamma . Perh. named from the bend at the ham, and akin to English chamber . Confer Gammon ham.]

1. (Anat.) The region back of the knee joint; the popliteal space; the hock.

2. The thigh of any animal; especially, the thigh of a hog cured by salting and smoking.

A plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams .

Shak.

Hamadryad (hăm"ȧ*drī`ăd) noun ; plural English Hamadryads (- ădz), Latin Hamadryades (- drī"ȧ*dēz). [ Latin Hamadryas , -adis , Greek "Amadrya`s ; "a`ma together + dry^s oak, tree: confer French hamadryade . See Same , and Tree .]

1. (Class. Myth.) A tree nymph whose life ended with that of the particular tree, usually an oak, which had been her abode.

2. (Zoology) A large venomous East Indian snake ( Ophiophagus bungarus ), allied to the cobras.

Hamadryas (hȧ*mā"drĭ*ăs) noun [ Latin , a hamadryad. See Hamadryad .] (Zoology) The sacred baboon of Egypt ( Cynocephalus Hamadryas ).

Hamal noun [ Written also hammal , hummaul , hamaul , khamal , etc.] [ Turk. & Arabic hammāl , from Arabic hamala to carry.] In Turkey and other Oriental countries, a porter or burden bearer; specif., in Western India, a palanquin bearer.

Hamamelis (hăm`ȧ*mē"lĭs) noun [ New Latin , from Greek "amamhli`s a kind of medlar or service tree; "a`ma at the same time + mh^lon an apple, any tree fruit.] (Botany) A genus of plants which includes the witch-hazel ( Hamamelis Virginica ), a preparation of which is used medicinally.

Hamate (hā"mat) adjective [ Latin hamatus , from hamus hook.] Hooked; bent at the end into a hook; hamous.

Hamated (hā"ma*tĕd) adjective Hooked, or set with hooks; hamate. Swift.

Hamatum (hȧ*mā"tŭm) noun [ New Latin , from Latin hamatus hooked.] (Anat.) See Unciform .

Hamble (hăm"b'l) transitive verb [ Middle English hamelen to mutilate, Anglo-Saxon hamelian ; akin to Old High German hamalōn to mutilate, hamal mutilated, ham mutilated, Icelandic hamla to mutilate. Confer Hamper to fetter.] To hamstring. [ Obsolete]

Hamburg (-bûrg) noun A commercial city of Germany, near the mouth of the Elbe.

Black Hamburg grape . See under Black . -- Hamburg edging , a kind of embroidered work done by machinery on cambric or muslin; -- used for trimming. -- Hamburg lake , a purplish crimson pigment resembling cochineal.

Hame (hām) noun Home. [ Scot. & O. Eng.]

Hame noun [ Scot. haims , hammys , hems , Middle English ham ; confer Dutch haam .] One of the two curved pieces of wood or metal, in the harness of a draught horse, to which the traces are fastened. They are fitted upon the collar, or have pads fitting the horse's neck attached to them.

Hamel (hăm"ĕl) transitive verb [ Obsolete] Same as Hamble .

Hamesecken (hām"sĕk`'n), Hame"suck`en (-sŭk`'n) noun [ Anglo-Saxon hāmsōcn . See Home , and Seek .] (Scots Law) The felonious seeking and invasion of a person in his dwelling house. Bouvier.

Hamfatter noun [ From a negro minstrel song called "The ham-fat man."] A low-grade actor or performer. [ Theatrical Slang]

Hamiform (hā"mĭ*fôrm) adjective [ Latin hamus hook + -form .] Hook-shaped.

Hamilton period (hăm"ĭl*tŭn pē"rĭ*ŭd). (Geol.) A subdivision of the Devonian system of America; -- so named from Hamilton , Madison Co., New York. It includes the Marcellus, Hamilton, and Genesee epochs or groups. See the Chart of Geology .

Haminura (hăm`ĭ*nū"rȧ) noun (Zoology) A large edible river fish ( Erythrinus macrodon ) of Guiana.

Hamite (hā"mīt) noun [ Latin hamus hook.] (Paleon.) A fossil cephalopod of the genus Hamites , related to the ammonites, but having the last whorl bent into a hooklike form.

Hamite (hăm"īt) noun A descendant of Ham, Noah's second son. See Gen. x. 6- 20.

Hamitic (hăm*ĭt"ĭk) adjective Pertaining to Ham or his descendants.

Hamitic languages , the group of languages spoken mainly in the Sahara, Egypt, Galla, and Somâli Land, and supposed to be allied to the Semitic. Keith Johnston.

Hamlet (hăm"lĕt) noun [ Middle English hamelet , Old French hamelet , dim. of hamel , French hameau , Late Latin hamellum , a dim. of German origin; confer German heim home. √220. See Home .] A small village; a little cluster of houses in the country.

The country wasted, and the hamlets burned.

Dryden.

Syn. -- Village; neighborhood. See Village .

Hamleted p. adjective Confined to a hamlet. Feltham.