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
Half-cut

see Cut


Hallmark

Originally, since 1721, a hallmark was the official stamp of quality and genuineness for gold and silver articles as approved by Goldsmith's Hall in L...

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Halloween

Halloween is a contraction of ‘All hallow even’ the eve of All Hallows Day, hallow being an obsolete, Old English word for a saint, hence the modern A...

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Ham (actor)

A bad or second-rate actor derives from an abbreviation of the 19th century American phrase ‘ham fatter’, denoting something that is second rate and d...

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Hamlet without the Prince

'Hamlet without the Prince' is an idiom that describes an event or occasion at which the expected principal participant is not present. It derives fro...

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Hammer a nail in someone’s coffin

see Put a nail in someone’s coffin


Hammer and tongs

To go at something hammer and tongs is to go at it with the utmost exuberance, zest or enthusiasm. The figurative use dates from the late 17th/early 1...

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Hampsteads

Rhyming slang for teeth, Hampstead Heath/teeth, dates from the mid-20th century. Hampstead Heath is area in North London.


Hampton

This is rhyming slang for prick (penis), from Hampton Wick/prick and dates from the late 19th century. Hampton Wick is a place name in the Greater Lon...

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Hand and foot

see Wait on someone hand and foot


Hand in glove

To be in league with or to be on intimate terms with somebody dates from the 17th century. It was listed as ‘hand and glove’ in Catalogue of English P...

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Hand in the cookie jar

see Cookie jar


Hand over fist

Hand over fist means quickly or rapidly as in ‘making money hand over fist’, and acquired this figurative meaning from the mid-19th century. The expre...

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Hand, foot, and finger

see Wait on someone hand and foot


Handicap

This word is a contraction of ‘hand in cap’, which then became ‘hand i’cap’ before evolving into the current word handicap by the mid-17th century. ‘H...

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