howitzer 
howitzer (hou'it-ser), n. [< Itoieite + -c/-i.] A 
short piece of ordnance, usually having a hemi- 
spherical chamber for the powder narrower than 
the bore, special- 
ly designed for 
the horizontal fir- 
ing of shells with 
small charges, 
and combining in 
some degree the 
accuracy of the 
2907 
Brass Howitzer (24-pounder). 
cannon with the 
caliber of the mor- 
tar, but more portable than either. The Coehorn 
howitzer, used in India for mountain service, is light 
enough to be borne by a horse. The rifled gun, throwing 
a shell of the same capacity from a smaller bore, and with 
much greater power, has superseded the howitzer for 
general purposes. Mountain howitzer, a 12-pounder 
bronze gun formerly used in the United States service, 
especially for carriage on the back of a mule or horse. Its 
weight was 220 pounds and its length a little over 3 feet. 
howk, houk (houk), v. [A dial. var. of hoik, 
q. v.] I. trans. To dig ; scoop ; make hollow : 
as, to howk a hole. 
He howkit a cave monie fathoms deep, 
And put May Marg'ret there. 
Hi/nde Etin (Child's Ballads, I. 295). 
Hrsiniis). 
[Scotch in both 
Naut., an obsolete form 
II. intrans. To burrow. 
uses.] 
howkert (hou'ker), n. 
of hooker?. 
howl (houl), v. [< ME. howlen, houlen, whowlen, 
rarely hulen = D. huilen = MLG. hulen, LG. 
hulen, hiilen = MHG. hiuweln, hiulen, G. heulen, 
howl, cry out (the OHG. hiwilon, hiuwilon, ex- 
ult, shout for joy, is a different word, an aspi- 
rated freq. of equiv. Juwen, reflecting L. jubi- 
lare: see jubilate), = Icel. yla = Sw. yla = Dan. 
hyle, howl: cf. L. ululare, howl, yell, shriek, 
cry out, wail, etc. (> It. urlare and ululare = 
Sp. aullar and ulular = Pg. vlular = OF. huler, 
busier, usler, hurler, huller, F. hurler, howl, yell). 
= Gr. V)MV, bark, bay, howl; orig. imitative, and 
strengthened, in Teut., etc., by aspiration; the 
L. form is reduplicated; so Gr. i>faMuv, cry 
aloud, Skt. ululi, ululu, a howling: see ululate. 
Not from owl, AS. ule, L. ulula, etc., which is 
rather from this verb: see owl, owlet, hotvlet.'] 
1. intrans. 1. To utter a loud, prolonged, and 
mournful cry, as that of a dog or wolf. 
As soone as the catte was fallen she be-gan to whowle 
and to bray so lowde, that it was herde thourgh the hoste. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 668. 
An he had been a dog that should have howled thus. 
they would have hanged him ; and I pray God his bad 
voice bode no mischief ! SAa*., Much Ado, ii. 3. 
He howl'd fearfully ; 
Said he was a wolf. 
Webster, Duchess of Main, v. 2. 
2. To give out a loud wailing sound, as the 
wind: as, the storm howls. 
The wind is howling in turret and tree. 
Tennyson, The Sisters. 
8. To wail; lament; make a loud mournful 
outcry. 
Shrighte Emelye and howleth Falamon. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1959. 
But he sawe a barge goe from the land, 
And hee heard ladyes howle and crye. 
King Arthur's Death (Child's Ballads, I. 48). 
My mother weeping, my father wailing, my sister cry- 
ing, our maid howling. Shak., T. G. of V., ii. 3. 
Why do you not howl out, and fill the hold 
With lamentations, cries, and base submissions, 
Worthy our scorn? Fletcher, Double Marriage, ii. 8. 
II. trans. To utter in a loud wailing tone. 
I have words 
That would be howl'd out in the desert air. 
Shak., Macbeth, Iv. 8. 
She howl'd aloud, "I am on fire within." 
Tennyson, Palace of Art. 
howl (houl), n. [< howl, v.~\ 1. The cry of a 
dog or wolf, or any sound resembling that cry. 
Wither'd murther, 
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, 
Whose howl's his watch. Shak., Macbeth, ii. 1. 
The wolf's long howl from Oonalaska's shore. 
Campbell, Pleasures of Hope, i. 66. 
2. A cry of anguish or distress ; a loud wail. 
Your naked infants spitted upon pikes ; 
Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confus'd 
Do break the clouds. Shak., Hen. V., iii. 3. 
howler (hou'ler), n. [< howl + -er 1 ."] 1. One 
who howls. 2. A South American monkey of 
the family Cebidce and subfamily Mycetince : as, 
the ursine howler, Mycetes ursimis. There are sev- 
eral species, so named from the extraordinary volume of 
their voice, due to a peculiar conformation of the laryngeal 
and hyoidean apparatus, which is enormously enlarged and 
excavated, functioning as a reverberator. 
howlet (hou'let), n. [Also houlet, lioolet, hulote, 
Imllat, hullert, etc., varied forms of owlet, < OF. 
Imlotte, also hulette, F. hulotte (also huette, < huer, 
cry), an owl : see owlet and howl.] Same as 
owlet. 
There was three fools fell out about an howlet: 
The one said it was an owl ; 
The other he said nay. 
Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, iii. 5. 
howling (hou'ling), p. a. [Ppr. of howl, v.~] 1. 
Filled with howling beasts or dismal sounds. 
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howl- 
ing wilderness. Deut. xxxli. 10. 
It is clearly evident that this fair quarter of the globe, 
when first visited by Europeans, was a howling wilderness 
inhabited by nothing but wild beasts. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 70. 
2. Very ''loud"; intense: as, a howling swell. 
[Slang.] Howling dervish. See dervish. 
howlite (hou'lit), n. [Named after Henry How, 
a mineralogist of Nova Scotia.] A hydrous 
silicoborate of calcium occurring in compact 
white nodules embedded in anhydrite or gyp- 
sum at Brookville, Nova Scotia. Also called 
silicoborocalcite. 
howm (houm), n. A Scotch form of holm 1 . 
Ye needna burst your gude white steed 
Wi' racing o'er the howm. 
The Broomfleld Hill (Child's Ballads, I. US). 
Dunbog is naemalr a gentleman than the blanker that's 
biggit the bonnie house down in the howm. 
Scott, Guy Mannering, iii. 
howpt! v. An obsolete variant of whoop. Chau- 
cer. 
howry (hou'ri), a. [E. dial., a form of hory, 
q. v.] Nasty; filthy. 
I ears es 'e'd gie fur a howry owd book thutty pound an' 
moor. Tennyson, The Village Wife, vii. 
howsot, adv. [< how + so; or, rather, abbr. of 
howsoever, which is older.] Howsoever; how- 
ever. 
Then is she mortall borne, how-so ye crake. 
Spenser, F. Q., VII. vii. 50. 
Let greatness go, so it go without thee : 
And welcome come, howso unfortunate. 
Daniel, Civil Wars, ii. 
howsoever (hou'so-ev'er), adv. [< ME. hou so 
evere, hu se ever; < how 1 + so + ever, in its gen- 
eralizing use.] 1. In what manner or to what 
degree soever. 
For how-so-euer that it be I will go, for I haue lever ther 
to dye than here for tO'ly ve as in prison. 
Aferft(E.E.T. S.), 11.241. 
2. Although; notwithstanding. 
But howsoever these things are thus in men's depraved 
judgments and affections, yet truth . . . teacheth that 
the inquiry of truth ... is the sovereign good of human 
nature. Bacon, Truth (ed. 1887). 
The man doth fear God, howsoever it seems not in him. 
Shak., Much Ado, ii. 3. 
Howsoe'er we have been tempted lately 
To a defection, that not makes us guilty. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, iv. 4. 
3. Be that as it may; in any case; neverthe- 
less. 
But all the story of the night told o'er . . . 
More witnesseth than fancy's Images, 
And grows to something of great constancy ; 
But, howsoever, strange, and admirable. 
Shak.,M. N. D., v. 1. 
Ana. Shall we have any sport? 
Amo. Sport of importance; howsoever, give me the 
gloves. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 2. 
Yet howsoeuer, let vs flght like men, and not die like 
sheepe. Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 215. 
howsomever, howsomdever (hou'sum-ev'er, 
-dev'er), adv. Dialectal corruptions of how- 
soever. Also written howsumdever. 
I let them have share and share while it lasted ; how- 
somever, I should have remembered the old saying. 
Smollett, Roderick Random, xli. 
H. R. 
I didn't like my berth tlio', howsimidever, 
Because the yarn, you see, kept getting tauter. 
Hood, Sailor's Apology for Bow-legs. 
Howsumdever, as your countrymen say, I shall have a 
shy at him. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, xliv. 
howster (hou'ster), . [Origin obscure.] The 
knot, a sandpiper, Tringa eanutus. Montagu. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
howvet, . See houve. 
how-were-itt, adv. [ME. hou were it. Cf. how- 
ueit."\ Howbeit; however. 
Hou-were-it that ioy of hys fader had, 
And of Melusine his mock-re wclfalre, 
Thay were hole and soande, of that was he glad. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 8207. 
hoxt (hoks), . [< ME. hox, i. e. "lioks, 'hocks 
(the s being ult. due prob. to AS. hohsino) for 
liog, hock: see hock 1 , v. and .] The hock. 
Dauid hoxide [var. kitte the hoxei of] alle the drawynge 
beestys in charis. Wyelif, 2 Ki. (2 Sam.] viii. 4 (Purv.X 
hoxt (hoks), v. t. [Also hocks; < ME. hoxen, < hox, 
hock: see hox, .] To hock; hamstring. 
Thou Shalt hoxe the horsis of hem. 
Wyelif, Josh. xi. 6 (Purv.X 
Neither he nor any other Spaniard ever came hither af- 
terward to hocks Cattle. Dumpier, Voyages, IL il. 97. 
hoxert (hok'ser), . [Also hockser; < hox + -er l .\ 
One who hoxes or hamstrings cattle. 
When the Hockier is mounted, he lays the Pole over the 
Head of his Horse, with the Iron forward, and then Hides 
after his Game ; and having overtaken it, strikes his Iron 
just above the Hock, and Hamstrings it 
Dumpier, Voyages, II. ii. 97. 
hoxing-iront(hok'sing-i*ern), . [Formerlyalso 
hocksing-iron.] A sharp curved implement for 
hamstringing cattle. 
His arms is a hocksing-iron, which is made in the shape 
of a half-moon, and from one corner to the other is about 
six or seven inches, with a very sharp edge. 
Dumpier, Voyages, an. 1676. 
Hox-Tuesdayt, . Same as hock-day. 
hoy 1 (hoi), . [= F. hew, < Flem. hiti, D. heu, 
heude, a hoy, a lighter; origin uncertain.] A 
small vessel, usually sloop-rigged, employed in 
conveying passengers and goods from port to 
port on the coast, or in doing heavy work in a 
road or bay, such as carrying provisions, weigh- 
ing anchors, etc. 
Hee had assembled aboue a hundreth small ships called 
hoyes. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 594. 
Your hoy 
Carries but three men in her, and a boy. 
B. Jonson, Volpone, iv. 1. 
The hoy went to London every week loaded with mack- 
erel and herrings, and returned loaded with company. 
Cowper. 
The master of this Hoy, wanting more ballast, ran into 
the Isle of Sheppey to get it. Dickens, Hist. Eng., xxxvi 
Anchor-hoy, gun-hoy, powder-hoy, provision-hoy, 
lighters attached to a navy-yard for sucn services as their 
names indicate. 
hoy 2 (hoi), interj. [< D. hiti, come! up! well! 
= Dan. hoi, .hoy! ahoy! an aspirated syllable 
of exclamation, like ho, ha, etc.: cf. ahoy."] Ho ! 
hello! an exclamation used to call attention. 
Also hoigh. 
hoy 2 (hoi), v. t. [< hoy, interj. Cf. Icel. Ado, 
shout 'ho' or 'hoy,' of a shepherd, with dat., 
call to the sheep, gather them, < ho, interj., hoi] 
To incite ; chase or drive on or away. [Scotch.] 
They hoy't out Will, wi' sair advice ; 
They hecht him some fine braw ane. 
Burns. Halloween. 
Hoya (hoi'a), n. [NL., after Thomas Hoy, a 
British gardener (died 1821).] A large genus 
of dicotyledonous gamopetalous plants, of the 
natural order Aselepiadacece and tribe Marsde- 
niece. They have a small 5-parted calyx ; the corona of 
5 rather thick fleshy segments inserted on the gynostegi- 
um, and usually spreading like a star in the center of the 
corolla; and 2 pollen-masses in each anther. They are 
herbaceous plants, with twining or climbing stems, and 
usually thick fleshy leaves. The flowers, which are also 
fleshy or waxy, are pink, white, or yellow, in dense axil- 
lary sessile or pedunculate umbels. About 60 species are 
known, natives of southern Asia and tropical and sub- 
tropical Australia and the Malay archipelago. They are 
among the most beautiful plants of the greenhouse, and 
are generally known by the name of wax-plant or honey- 
flower. H. carnosa is the wax-plant of India. 
hoyden, n., a., and v. See hoiden. 
hoyman (hoi'man), n. ; pi. hoymen (-men). [< 
hoy 1 + man.] A man who navigates a hoy. 
It soon became necessary for the courts to declare . . . 
that a common hoyman, like a common waggoner, is re- 
sponsible for goods committed to his custody. 
Sir W. Jones, Law of Bailments. 
hoyset, v. and . An obsolete variant of hoist. 
hoytet, v. i. A variant of hoit. 
H. P. An abbreviation of horse-power. 
H-piece. See aitclijmce. 
H. R. An abbreviation of House of Representa- 
tives. 
