haft 
handle ; specifically, the handle of a cutting or 
thrusting instrument, as a knife, sword, or dag- 
ger ; a hilt. 
But yet ne fond I nought the haft 
Whiche might unto the blade accorde. 
Gower, Conf. Amaut., iv. 
Earl Doorni 
Struck with a knife's haft hard against the board. 
Tennyson, Gcraint. 
Loose In the haftt, not quite honest. Wright's Pulitinil 
Songs, p. 339. 
haft 1 (haft), r. t. [= OS. lieftjan, fetter, bind, 
= D. hechten, fasten, attach, = MLG. hechteii, 
heften, attach, arrest, =OHG. heftan, MHG. G. 
hij'lcn, fasten, attach, =Icel. hepta, hefta, bind, 
fetter, refl. restrain oneself, forbear, = Dan. 
litj'tc, S\v. lit'ifta, bind, stitch, arrestj = Goth. 
liaftjan, fasten, attach, reft, cling, stick, force 
oneself in upon; from the noun.] 1. To set 
in a haft ; furnish with a handle. 
Tools and instruments consisted of polished flints of va- 
rious shapes, and of teeth and bones of animals, ha/ted in 
different ways according to the uses for which they were 
intended. ' Westminster Xev., CXXVIII. 538. 
2. To drive up to the haft or hilt, as a knife or 
dirk. 
This mye blade in thye body should bee with speedines 
hafted. Stanihurst, Conceites, p. 143. 
3. To fix or settle firmly ; plant. [Scotch.] 
I hae heard him say that the root of the matter was 
mair deeply hafted in that wild muirland parish than in 
the Canongate of Edinburgh. 
Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xxxix. 
It shows how well hafted is the Royal Society's claim, 
that a president should acquire the notion that it is ac- 
knowledged and acted upon by the other Societies. 
De Morgan, Budget of Paradoxes, p. 20. 
haft 2 (haft), H. [Prob. connected with hafft, 
as a 'fixed' place of abode. Cf. hafft,v.,3.'] A 
place of abode ; dwelling; lodging. [Scotch.] 
" Her bairn," she said, " was her bairn, and she came to 
fetch her out of ill haft and waur guiding." 
Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xviii. 
hafter 1 (haf'ter), n. [< hafft, v., + -!.] In 
cutlery, a workman who forms and fixes the 
hafts or handles of knives. 
hafter 2 t (haf'ter), n. [Appar. < "haft, v. (found 
el se where only in ha f ting ) , + -er. ] A wrangler ; 
a caviler; a debater. Hollybatid, Diet., 1593. 
(Halliwell.) 
haftingt, n. [Verbal n. of "haft in hafter^, q. v.] 
Wrangling; debate. 
Whan was there more haftyng and craftyng to scrape 
money together? J. Udall, On Ephesians, Prol. 
With these pernitious words iterated continually unto 
him, he grew enkindled, and (without any farther hafting 
or holding off) . . . delivered up all that was demaunded. 
Holland, tr. of Ammianus, p. 275. 
haft-pipe (haft'plp), n. A handle in which the 
tang of a small tool is temporarily fixed for con- 
venience in grinding the tool. 
The handle is called a haftpipe, and is commonly a 
short piece of hazel-rod. 
O. Byrne, Artisan's Handbook, p. 425. 
hag 1 (hag), n. [Early mod. E. also hagg; < ME. 
hagge, hegge, a shortened form (by dropping 
the supposed termination ) of AS. hax/tes, heegtis, 
also hwgtesse (in early glosses spelled haehtis, 
haehtisse), pi. luegtesse, a witch, a fury (glossing 
Ij.furia, striga, Erinys, Pythonissa, Ifeipftone.pl. 
haigtesse, glossing L. Furies, Eumenides, Parcce), 
= MD. haghetisse, a witch (cf . MD. haeghdisse, 
lieghdisse, D. liaagdis, hagedis, a lizard, an ae- 
com. to the word for 'witch' of MD. eggedissc 
= AS. athexe, E. ask?, askerf, q. v.), = OHG. 
hagazussa, hagzissa, hagzus, also hazissa, hazus 
(glossing L. furia, striga, Eumenis, Erynis), 
MHG. hecse (also hacke), G. hexe (> D. heks = 
Dan. hex = Sw. hexa), a hag; a compound of 
uncertain formation.] If. A witch; a sorcer- 
ess ; an enchantress ; very rarely, a male witch ; 
wizard; magician. 
But you [powerful herbs] can force the fiercest Ani- 
mals, . . . 
Yea, fairest Planets (if Antiquitie 
Haue not bely'd the Haggs of Thessalie). 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 3. 
And that old hag [Silenus] that with a staff his staggering 
limbs doth stay, (folding, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., iv. 
How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags ? 
Shak., Macbeth, iv. 1. 
2. A repulsive, vicious, or malicious old woman. 
No, you unnatural hags, 
I will have such revenges on you both ! 
ShaJr., Lear, ii. 4. 
The hag . . . scowled at the fair Jewess with the malig- 
nant envy [with] which old age and ugliness, when united 
with evil conditions, are apt to look upon youth and 
beauty. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxiv. 
3. A cyclostomous or marsipobranchiate fish, 
Myxine glutinosa, or glutinous hag, related to 
169 
Hag, or Slime-eel (Myxine glutinosa). 
2670 
the lamprey, 
type of tne 
family Myxi- 
>iid(E and sub- 
order Hype- 
rotreta. See 
these techni- 
cal words. The hag resembles an eel In some respects, 
is a foot or more long, has a cirrous sucking mouth, a strong 
palatal tooth, pouched gills, and is parasitic. Also hag- 
Jtsk, slime-eel. 
4. A white mist ; phosphoric light ; an appear- 
ance of light or fire on horses' manes or men's 
hair. [Prov. Eng.] 
Haggs, says Blount, are said to be made of Sweat, or 
some other Vapour issuing out of the Head; a not un- 
usual Sight among us when we ride by Night in the Sum- 
mer-time : They are extinguished like Flames by shaking 
the Horses' Manes. But I believe rather it is only a Va- 
pour reflecting Light, but fat and sturdy, compacted about 
the Manes of Horses or Men's Hair. 
Bourne's Pop. Antiq. (1777), p. 371, note. 
hag 1 ! (tag), v. t. [< hag 1 , .] To vex; harass; 
torment. 
That makes them in the dark see visions, 
And hag themselves with apparitions. 
S. Butler, Hudibras. 
hag a (hag), n. [A dial, form of hawl (< AS. 
liaga), hay 2 (AS. hege), or hedge (AS. *hecgt): 
see haw 1 , liay%, hedge. Cf. D. kaag, a hedge ; 
G. hag, a haw, inclosure, fence, hedge, cop- 
pice, wood, etc. (see under hawl). The sense 
of 'a wood' runs into that of hag s , n., 2, a 
part of a wood to be felled.] A small wood or 
wooded inclosure. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
hag 3 , hagg (hag), v.; pret. and pp. hagged, ppr. 
bagging. [< ME. haggen, var. of hacken, hack: 
see hack 1 . Cf. freq. haggle^ for ftoofelt 1 .] I. 
trans. To cut; hack; chop; hew: sameasAacfc 1 . 
[They] hurlit thurgh the hard inaile, hagget the lere, 
And deliuert the lede lawse of nor hondes, 
Horsit hym in hast thurgh help of his brother. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 10023. 
II. intrans. To haggle or dispute. [Obsolete 
or prov. Eng. in both senses.] 
hag 3 (hag), n. [< hagS, v. Cf. hackl, n.~\ 1. A 
stroke with an ax or a knife ; a notch; a cut; a 
hack. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 2. A certain 
part of a wood intended to be cut. [Prov. Eng. ] 
In Warwickshire the rods which mark the boundary of 
a fall of timber are called hagg-staffs ; and the separate 
portions so divided are called each man's hagg. 
N. and Q., 7th ser., III. 197. 
3. One cutting or felling of a certain quantity 
of wood; also, the wood so cut. [Scotch.] 4. 
Branches lopped off for firewood ; brushwood. 
[Scotch.] 5. A quagmire or pit in mossy 
ground; any broken ground in a bog. [North. 
Eng. and Scotch.] 
This said, he led me over holts and hags, 
Through thorns and bushes scant my legs I drew. 
Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, viii. 41. 
Owre rnouy a weary hag he limpit. 
And aye the tither shot he thumpit. 
Burns, Tarn Samson's Elegy. 
Hag, tag, and ragt [a riming phrase in which hag has no 
definite meaning], a rabble ; rag, tag, and bobtail. 
Than was all the rable of the shippe, hag, tag, and rag, 
called to the reckeninge. 
Bp. Bale, The Vocacion (Harl. Misc., VI. 459). (Dairies.) 
hag*t, n. [Said to mean 'bachelor, fellow, man' 
in this passage, but prob. the same as liat/ 1 . 
It cannot be connected with AS. htegsteaM, a 
bachelor.] A bachelor; a fellow; a man. 
For thou can not but brag, 
Lyke a Scottyshe hag. 
Skeltnn, Howe the Douty Duke of Albany, etc., 1. 295. 
hag 5 t, n. A kind of boat. See the quotation. 
The brokers of these coals are called crimps, . . . and 
the ships that bring them, Cats, and Hani or Hag-boats, 
Fly-boats, and the like. 
Defoe, Tour through Great Britain, II. 144. 
hag 6 (hag), H. A bird: same as hagden. 
hagadah, hagadic, etc. See haggadah, hagga- 
dic, etc. 
hagardt, a. and n. See haggard*. 
hagberry, hegberry (hag'-, heg'ber"i), . ; pi. 
hagberries, hegbernet (-iz). [Also hackberry, 
heckberry; appar. of Scand. origin, < Dan. Tueg- 
gebcer, or Jueggebxrtrw (hagberry-tree), = Sw. 
hciggbar, or simply hagg = Icel. heggr, the hag- 
berry, bird-cherry. The Icel. heggr agrees in 
form with AS. *hecg, ME. hegge, E. hedge: see 
hedge, hag%, and berryl."] A species of cherry, 
Prunns pailus or P. aeium. Also called bird- 
cherry. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
hagboatt (hag'bot), . Same as ltag&. 
hagbusht (hag'bush), n. Same as hackbut. 
hagbutt, Same as hackbut. 
hagbuttert, Same as hackbutter. 
hagdel (hag'del), n. Same as hagden. 
haggadistic 
hagden, hagdon (hag'den, -don), . [Also liag- 
down, hagdel, also hacklet, hackbolt; origin ob- 
scure : cf . hag 1 , n.,3.] The greater shearwater, 
I'uffinus major. This sea-bird ranges widely in Atlan- 
tic waters, and abounds on the North Atlantic coasts of 
America and Europe. It belongs to the petrel family, and 
to that section of Procellariidce in which the beak is com- 
paratively long and slender, with short, low nasal tubes, 
and a hook at the end. It is 18 or 20 inches long, and 40 
Hagden, or Greater Shearwater ( 
s major}. 
to 45 inches in extent of wings. The adult is dark-brown 
above and mostly white below. Hagdens sometimes gath- 
er in flocks of thousands, (lying low over the water and 
skimming the crests of the waves with marvelous ease 
without visible motion of the long thin pinions. They 
breed on coasts in holes in the ground and lay one white 
egg. Several related shearwaters are known by the same 
name. See Pvjinue. Also hag. [Local, New Eug.] 
Known to sailors and fishermen as hagdens. 
Coues, Proo. Phila. Acad., 1861, p. 242. 
Black hagden, the sooty shearwater, Pujinua fuligino- 
8U8. 
hagdown (hag'doun), n. Same as hagden. 
[Isle of Man.] 
hagedash (haj'dash), n. [Native name.] An 
African ibis, Ibis hagedash: made by Bona- 
parte (1855) a generic name in the form Hage- 
dashia. 
Hagenia (ha-je'ni-a), n. [NL. (Willdenow, 
1797), so named after K. Gottfried Hagen.] A 
monotypic genus of trees growing in Abyssinia. 
H. Abyssinica, the only species, now known as Brayera 
anthelmintica, is a tall tree belonging to the natural order 
Rosacece, tribe Poteriece, distinguished by its polygamous 
panicled flowers, the male with 20 stamens. The flowers 
and unripe fruit were found by Dr. Brayer to have anthel- 
mintic properties, and they are still used to remove tape- 
worms. The dried flowers, as well as the whole plant* go 
by the native name of cusso or kou&so. 
hagester, . See hagister. 
hag-findert (hag'fln^der), n. A witch-finder. 
George. If we should come to see her, cry So ho ! once. 
Alken. That I do promise, or I am no good hag-finder. 
B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, it 2. 
hagfish (hag'fish), n. Same as hag 1 , 3. 
hagg, v. See hag s . 
haggadah, hagadah (ha-ga'da), n.; pi. hagga- 
doth, hagadoth (-doth). [< Heb. haggadah, < 
hagad, say, tell.] 1. A legend, anecdote, or 
saying in the Talmud illustrative of the law. 
2. leap.'] A free exposition and illustration of 
the Hebrew Scriptures; one of the two classes 
of rabbinical Biblical interpretation forming 
the Midrash. 
This Haggadah or Agadah varies considerably both in 
nature and form. In its nature it sometimes humours, 
at other times threatens ; it alternately promises and ad- 
monishes, persuades and rebukes, encourages and deters. 
In the end it always consoles, and throughout it instructs 
and elevates. In form it is legendary, historical, exegetic, 
didactic, theosophic, epigrammatic ; but throughout it is 
ethical. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 286. 
Also written haggada, agada, agadah. 
haggadic, hagadic (ha-gad'ik), a. [< haggadah, 
hagadah, + -ic.] Of or pertaining to the Hag- 
gadah; characterized by free interpretation 
and exposition: opposed to halachic, or legal. 
Also agadic. 
Like the Jews, too, the Samaritans had a haggada ; in- 
deed, the Arabic books they still possess under the name 
of chronicles are almost entirely haggadic fable, with very 
little admixture of true tradition. Encyc. Brit., XXI. 245. 
Several entire treatises of an Agadic nature. 
Encyc. Brit., XVI. 288. 
haggadical (ha-gad'i-kal), a. Same as haggadic. 
haggadist, hagadist (ha-ga'dist), . [< hag- 
gadah, hagadah, + -ist.~] A writer of hagga- 
doth ; one of the authors or disciples of the Hag- 
gadah. Also agadist. 
The agadists make much of the devotion of the indi- 
vidual ant to the welfare of the whole colony as a salient 
point of formic character. Pop. Set. 3lo., XXV. 280. 
haggadistic, hagadistic (hag-a-dis'tik), . [< 
haggadist, hagadist, + -ic.] Of or pertaining 
to a haggadist or his method of interpreting 
Scripture; unrestrained by legal or strictly 
orthodox canons. Also agadistic. 
According to the agadistic view, the primitive man as 
well as the ape lived only on vegetable food. 
Pop. Sci. Mo., XXI. 600. 
