A-Z Database

A-Z Database

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Hullabaloo

A tumultuous uproar or clamorous confusion dates from the mid-18th century and has appeared in many different spelling variations since the currently...

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Humbug

Famously used by Ebenezer Scrooge to describe Christmas in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol and means nonsense or rubbish. It dates from the mid-18th...

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Humdinger

Humdinger is an American English informal word that dates from the late 19th century and describes an excellent, exceptional person, thing, or event....

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Humungous/humongous

Humungous is an American portmanteau word and this particular one, describing something very large, is a combination of huge, monstrous with perhaps a...

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Hunch

A hunch meaning a presentiment or positive feeling that something or other will be the case is American and dates from the early 20th century. How thi...

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Hung jury

see Hang/hang it


Hungry as a bear, hawk, horse, hunter, lion, wolf etc

There are very many similes for phrases beginning with 'hungry as…' and most of them relate to animals like lions, wolves, bears, horses etc and most...

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Hungry as a horse

see Hungry as a bear, hawk, horse, hunter, lion, wolf etc


Hungry as a hunter

see Hungry as a bear, hawk, horse, hunter, lion, wolf etc


Hungry enough to eat a horse

see Eat a horse


Hunk

An American expression for an attractive, sexually appealing young man dates from the 1940s. It builds on an earlier American word hunkey from the mid...

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Hunker down

An American expression meaning to hide, hide out, or take shelter, dates from the late 18th century. The OED gives an obsolete meaning for ‘hunker’,...

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Hunky dory

An American expression meaning splendid, dates from the mid-19th century but the origin is obscure. Many different theories abound, from honchi-dori a...

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Hurdy-gurdy

A rhyming compound word suggested by the sound of the musical instrument it describes, which is a stringed instrument driven by a wheel turned by hand...

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Hurly-burly

This expression dates from the 16th century and means an uproar or tumultuous disturbance. In the 1400s, the word hurling meant commotion or strife an...

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