NTC''''s Pocket Dictionary of Words and Phrases part 30 docx

Past tense and past participle: had;in the present tense, the third-person singular form is has.. have a chip on one’s shoulder to be tempting someone to an argu-ment or a fight.. have a

hard ["hard] 1 adj firm; solid; not

soft (Comp: harder; sup: hardest.)

2 adj difficult; not easy to do.

(Comp: harder; sup: hardest.)

3 adj severe; harsh; demanding.

(Comp: harder; sup: hardest.)

4 adj forceful; violent; not gentle.

(Comp: harder; sup: hardest.)

5 adj [of water] having a high

mineral content (Comp: harder;

sup: hardest.) 6 adv with great

force or energy (Comp: harder;

sup: hardest.)

→ (as) hard as nails

→ between a rock and a hard place

→ drive a hard bargain

→ hit someonehard

hard of hearing [of someone]

unable to hear well; [of someone]

partially deaf

hard on someone’s heels

ing someone very closely;

follow-ing very closely to someone’s heels

a hard-and-fast rule a strict rule.

hardly ["hard li] adv barely; almost

not at all

hardly have time to think so

busy that one can hardly think

properly; very busy

hardware ["hard wEr] 1 n tools,

nails, screws, door handles,

elec-trical supplies, brackets, buckets,

utensils, and similar things used in

building and maintenance (No

plural form.) 2 n computer

equipment; the machinery of a

computer, as opposed to software

programs (No plural form.)

hare ["he #] n an animal, such as

the jackrabbit, that is very similar

to a rabbit, but larger

→ (as) mad as a March hare

harm ["harm] 1 n mental or

physi-cal damage to someone or

some-thing (No plural.) 2 tv to

damage someone or something

harmful ["harm fUl] adj causing

damage or harm to someone or

something (Adv: harmfully.)

harmony ["har m@ ni] 1 n the

effect of different musical notes that are played or sung together, creating a pleasant sound (Plural only for types and instances.) 2 n agreement; peace (No plural Fig-urative on Q.)

harp ["harp] n a musical

instru-ment having strings attached to a frame of wood

harp on someone or something to

keep talking about someone or something until everyone is tired

of hearing about it (Informal.)

harsh ["harS] 1 adj rough;

unpleasant to look at or listen to; unpleasant to touch, taste, or

smell (Adv: harshly Comp: harsher; sup: harshest.) 2 adj.

mean; cruel; severe (Adv: harshly Comp: harsher; sup: harshest.)

harvest ["har v@st] 1 n the

gather-ing of a crop of grain, fiber, fruit,

vegetables, etc 2 n the total

amount of grain, fiber, fruit, or vegetables produced in an area

3 tv to collect a crop of grain,

fiber, fruit, or vegetables when it is ready

has ["hAz] 1 tv the present-tense

form ofhaveused for the

third-person singular, that is, with he,

she, it, and singular nouns 2 aux.

the present-tense form ofhave T used for the third-person singular, hard

256

that is, with he, she, it, and

singu-lar nouns, in forming the present

perfectverb form (Used before

the past participle of a verb

Reduced to ’s in contractions.)

hash something over (with

some-one) to discuss something with

someone

hat ["hAt] n an article of clothing

shaped to cover the head

→ at the drop of a hat

→ be old hat

→ eat one’shat

→ hang one’shat up somewhere

→ keep somethingunder one’shat

→ pass the hat

→ pull somethingout of a hat

→ talk through one’shat

→ toss one’shat into the ring

→ wear more than one hat

hatch ["hAtS] 1 n an opening in a

wall, ceiling, or floor 2 iv [for a

baby bird or reptile] to break an

eggshell from the inside and come

out

→ count one’schickens before they

hatch

hatchet ["hAtS It] n a short axe.

→ bury the hatchet

hate ["het] 1 n intense dislike (No

plural.) 2 tv to dislike someone

or something intensely

→ one’spet hate

hate someone’s guts to hate

some-one very much (Informal and

rude.)

hate to do something to strongly

dislike doing something

haul ["hOl] 1 tv to carry

thing, using force; to drag

some-thing heavy 2 tv to carry or bring

someone or something by truck or

other vehicle 3 n an instance of

traveling from one place to

another, and the distance, time, or effort involved

→ over the long haul

→ over the short haul

haul someone in [for an officer of

the law] to take someone to the police station

haul someone over the coals Go

to rake someoneover the coals.

have ["hAv] 1 tv., irreg to own

something; to possess something;

to possess a quality (Past tense and past participle: had;in the present tense, the third-person singular form is has.) 2 tv., irreg.

to undergo something; [for some-thing] to happen to oneself; to experience something 3 tv., irreg

to eat or drink something; to

con-sume something 4 tv., irreg to

cause something to be done; to cause someone or something to do something 5 aux a verb that is used to form the perfectverb forms, which show that an action

is completed (Used before the past participle of a verb.)

→ as luck would have it

→ chickens have come home to roost

→ eat one’scake and have it too

→ hardly have time to think

→ not have a leg to stand on

→ should have stood in bed

→ Walls have ears.

→ would like (to have)

have a bee in one’s bonnet to

have an idea or a thought remain

in one’s mind; to have an obses-sion

have a big mouth to be a gossiper;

to be a person who tells secrets

have a bone to pick (with some-one) to have a matter to discuss

have a bone to pick (with someone)

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with someone; to have something

to argue about with someone

have a chip on one’s shoulder to

be tempting someone to an

argu-ment or a fight

have a (close) brush with

some-thing to have a brief contact with

something; to have an experience

with something

have a close call Go to have a

close shave.

have a close shave and have a

close call to have a narrow

escape from something dangerous

(Also with be.)

have a familiar ring [for a story or

an explanation] to sound familiar

have a foot in both camps to

have an interest in or to support

each of two opposing groups of

people

have a frog in one’s throat to

have a feeling of not being able to

speak because of a lump in one’s

throat or as if it were sore (Also

with get.)

have a good head on one’s

shoulders to have common

sense; to be sensible and

intelli-gent

have a green thumb to have the

ability to grow plants well

have a handle on something and

get a handle on something to

have or get control of something;

to have or get an understanding of

something

have a head for something have

the mental capacity for something

have a heart to be compassionate;

to be generous and forgiving

have a heart of gold to be

gener-ous, sincere, and friendly

have a heart of stone to be cold,

unfeeling, and unfriendly

have a hold on someone to have a

strong and secure influence on someone

have a keen interest in

some-thing to have a strong interest in something; to be very interested in something

have a look for someone or

some-thing Go to take a look for someone

or something.

have a lot going (for one) to have

many things working to one’s ben-efit

have a low boiling point to anger

easily

have a nose for something to have

the talent for finding something

have a one-track mind to have a

mind that thinks entirely or almost entirely about one subject, especially sex

have a peep and take a peep to

look quickly, sometimes through a small hole

have a price on one’s head to be

wanted by the authorities, who have offered a reward for one’s capture

have a run of something a

contin-uous series of events

have a run-in with someone to

have an unpleasant and trouble-some encounter with trouble-someone

have a scrape (with someone or something) to come into contact

with someone or something; to have a chip on one’s shoulder

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have a small battle with someone

or something

have a soft spot in one’s heart

for someone or something to be

fond of someone or something

have a sweet tooth to desire to

eat many sweet foods—especially

candy and pastries (As if a certain

tooth had a craving for sweets.)

have a taste for something a

desire for a particular food, drink,

or experience

have a vested interest in

some-thing to have a personal or biased

interest, often financial, in

some-thing

have a weakness for someone or

something to be unable to resist

someone or something; to be fond

of someone or something; to be

(figuratively) powerless against

someone or something

have an ax to grind to have

some-thing to complain about

have an ear for something to have

the ability to learn music or

lan-guages

have an in (with someone) to

have a way to request a special

favor from someone; to have

influence with someone (The in

is a noun.)

have an itch for something to have

a desire for something

have an itch to do something to

have a desire to do something

have an itching palm Go to have

an itchy palm.

have an itchy palm and have an

itching palm to be in need of a

tip; to tend to ask for tips; to crave

money (As if placing money in the palm would stop the itching.)

have arrived to reach a position of

power, authority, or prominence

have bearing on something to

have an effect or influence on something

have clean hands to be guiltless.

(As if the guilty person would have bloody hands.)

have egg on one’s face to be

embarrassed because of an error that is obvious to everyone

have eyes bigger than one’s stomach to have a desire for

more food than one could possibly eat

have eyes in the back of one’s head to seem to be able to sense

what is going on outside of one’s range of vision (Not literal.)

have feet of clay [for a strong

per-son] to have a defect of character

have foot-in-mouth disease to

embarrass oneself through a silly verbal blunder; to put one’s foot in one’s mouth (not literally) a lot

have got something to have

some-thing; to possess something (Used only with the present tense ofhave

T, as with have got or has got.)

have got to do something to be

obliged to do something; must do something (Used only with the present tense ofhave T, as with

have got to or has got to.)

have had its day to no longer be

useful or successful

have it out (with someone) to

set-tle something with someone by fighting or arguing

have it out (with someone)

259

have mixed feelings (about

someone or something) to be

uncertain about someone or

something

have money to burn to have lots

of money; to have more money

than one needs; to have enough

money that some can be wasted

have one’s back to the wall to be

in a defensive position

have one’s cake and eat it too

and eat one’s cake and have it

too to enjoy both having

some-thing and using it up

have one’s ear to the ground and

keep one’s ear to the ground to

listen carefully, hoping to get

warning of something

have one’s finger in the pie to be

involved in something

have one’s finger in too many

pies to be involved in too many

things; to have too many tasks

going to be able to do any of them

well

have one’s hand in the till to be

stealing money from a company or

an organization (The till is a cash

box or drawer.)

have one’s hands full (with

some-one or something) to be busy or

totally occupied with someone or

something

have one’s hands tied to be

pre-vented from doing something

(Figurative.)

have one’s head in the clouds to

be unaware of what is going on

have one’s heart in one’s mouth

to feel strongly emotional about

someone or something

have one’s heart set on something

to be desiring and expecting some-thing

have one’s nose in a book to be

reading a book; to read books all the time

have one’s sights trained on

something Go to train one’ssights

on something.

have one’s tail between one’s legs to be frightened or to lack

bravery

have one’s words stick in one’s throat to be so overcome by

emo-tion that one can hardly speak

have other fish to fry to have

other things to do; to have more

important things to do (Other can

be replaced by bigger, better, more important, etc.)

have someone dead to rights to

have proved someone unquestion-ably guilty

have someone in one’s pocket to

have control over someone

have someone or something in one’s hands to have control of or

responsibility for someone or

something (Have can be replaced with leave or put.)

have someone over to invite

some-one as a guest to some-one’s house

have someone pegged as

some-thing Go to peg someoneas something.

have someone’s blood on one’s hands to be responsible for

some-one’s death; to be guilty of causing someone’s death

have someone’s eye Go to catch someone’seye.

have mixed feelings (about someone or something)

260

have something at hand Go to

have somethingat one’sfingertips.

have something at one’s

finger-tips and have something at

hand to have something within

(one’s) reach

have something down pat to have

learned or memorized something

perfectly

have something hanging over

one’s head to have something

bothering or worrying one; to

have a deadline worrying one

have something in stock to have

merchandise available and ready

for sale

have something out to have

some-thing, such as a tooth, stone, or

tumor, removed surgically

have something to spare to have

more than enough of something

have something wrapped up Go

to get somethingsewed up.

have the gall to do something to

have sufficient arrogance to do

something

have the Midas touch to have the

ability to be successful, especially

the ability to make money easily

(Midas= a legendary king whose

touch turned everything to gold.)

have the presence of mind to do

something to have the calmness

and ability to act sensibly in an

emergency or difficult situation

have the right-of-way to possess

the legal right to occupy a

particu-lar space on a public roadway

have the time of one’s life to have

a very good time; to have the most

exciting time in one’s life

have to do something to be

obli-gated to do something; must do something

have to do with someone or

some-thing to concern or affect someone

or something; to be associated with or related to someone or something

have too many irons in the fire

to be doing too many things at once

the have-nots ["hAv "nats] n

peo-ple who do not have enough money to live comfortably

the haves ["hAvz] n people who

have enough money to live com-fortably; people who are rich and privileged

hawk ["hOk] 1 n a bird of prey,

similar to a falcon, with strong beak and claws, a long tail, and good eyesight 2 tv to sell some-thing, especially in the street

→ watch someonelike a hawk

hay ["he] n grass or plants cut,

dried, and used as food for cattle, horses, etc (No plural.)

haystack ["he stAk] n a large

amount of hay that is piled together to dry

→ like looking for a needle in a haystack

hazard a guess to make a guess hazard an opinion to give an

opinion

he ["hi] 1 pron a third-person

sin-gular masculine pronoun (Refers

to male creatures Used as a sub-ject of a sentence or a clause See also him, himself, and his.) 2 pron.

a third-person singular pronoun (Used when the sex of a

grammat-he

261

ical subject is unimportant,

inde-terminate, undetermined, or

irrel-evant Objected to by some as

actually referring only to males in

this sense See also theyW.) 3 n a

male person or creature

head ["hEd] 1 n the part of the

body of humans and animals

above the neck, including the face,

eyes, nose, mouth, ears, brain, and

skull 2 n the brain; the mind

3 n an individual animal, used

especially in counting cows,

horses, and sheep (No plural

Always a singular form preceded

by words that tell how many.) 4 n

the leader of a company, country,

organization, group, etc.; a chief;

someone who is in charge 5 n

the top, front, or upper part of

something, such as a table, a page,

a sheet of paper, a line [of people],

or a [school] class 6 adj primary;

chief; foremost (Prenominal

only.) 7 tv to lead a group of

peo-ple; to be in charge of a group of

people or part of a company 8 iv.

to move in a certain direction

→ bang one’shead against a brick

wall

→ beat one’shead against the wall

→ bring somethingto a head

→ bury one’shead in the sand

→ can’t make heads or tails (out)

of someone or something

→ come to a head

→ count heads

→ drum somethingin(to someone’s

head)

→ get one’shead above water

→ get somethinginto someone’sthick

head

→ go over someone’s head

→ go to someone’shead

→ have a good head on one’s

shoulders

→ have a head for something

→ have a price on one’shead

→ have eyes in the back of one’s head

→ have one’shead in the clouds

→ have somethinghanging over one’s head

→ hide one’shead in the sand

→ hit the nail (right) on the head

→ hold one’shead up

→ in over one’shead

→ keep a civil tongue (in one’s head)

→ keep one’shead above water

→ make someone’shead spin

→ make someone’shead swim

→ off the top of one’shead

→ out of one’shead

→ over someone’shead

→ per head

→ rear its ugly head

→ turn someone’shead

a head and per head a person; an

individual

head and shoulders above

someone or something clearly superior to someone or

some-thing (Often with stand.)

head back (someplace) to start

moving back to someplace

head of cabbage and head of

lettuce n the edible, top part of a

cabbage or a lettuce plant

head of lettuce Go to head of cab-bage.

head someone or something off to

intercept and divert someone or something

head something up 1 to get

some-thing pointed in the right direc-tion (Especially a herd of cattle or

a group of covered wagons.) 2 to

be in charge of something; to be the head of some organization head

262

headache ["hEd ek] 1 n a pain in

the head, especially one that lasts a

long time 2 n a problem; a

bother; a worry (Figurative on

Q.)

heads will roll some people will

get into trouble (Informal From

the use of the guillotine to execute

people.)

heal over [for the surface of a

wound] to heal

heal up [for an injury] to heal.

health ["hElT] 1 n freedom from

diseases of the mind or the body

(No plural.) 2 n vigor; general

condition (No plural Figurative

on Q.) 3 the adj use of Q or W.

→ get a clean bill of health

→ give someonea clean bill of

health

→ in the picture of (good) health

→ nurse someoneback to health

heap ["hip] n a large pile of things;

a stack of things piled together

heap something up to make

some-thing into a pile

heap something (up)on someone

or something 1 to pile something

up on someone or something

2 to give someone too much of

something, such as homework,

praise, criticism, etc (Figurative.)

hear ["hIr] 1 iv., irreg to be able to

sense or experience sounds by

means of the ears (Past tense and

past participle: heard.) 2 tv., irreg.

to sense or receive a certain sound

or a certain utterance 3 tv., irreg.

to learn that something has

hap-pened (The object can be a clause

with that U.) 4 tv., irreg [for a

court of law] to listen to the two

sides of a court case 5 tv., irreg.

to pay attention to someone or something; to listen to someone or something (The object can be a clause with that U.)

→ like to hear oneselftalk

→ so quiet you could hear a pin drop

→ so still you could hear a pin drop

hear someone out 1 to hear all of what someone has to say 2 to

hear someone’s side of the story

heard ["h#d] past tense and past

participle ofhear

→ make oneselfheard

hearing ["hIr IN] 1 n the sense that

allows one to recognize sound; the ability to hear (No plural form.)

2 n an examination of basic evi-dence in a court of law 3 the adj.

use of Q

→ hard of hearing

heart ["hart] 1 n a large,

four-chambered muscle that pumps

blood throughout the body 2 n.

Q considered as a symbol of the center of a person’s emotions, thoughts, and love (Figurative on Q.) 3 n the shape 1 4 n [in a deck of playing cards] one card

of a group of cards that bears a red 1

→ anaching heart

→ break someone’sheart

→ cross one’sheart (and hope to die)

→ die of a broken heart

→ do someone’sheart good

→ eat one’sheart out

→ find it in one’sheart (to do something)

→ follow one’sheart

→ from the bottom of one’sheart

→ get to the heart of the matter

→ have a heart

→ have a heart of gold

heart

263

→ have a heart of stone

→ have a soft spot in one’sheart

for someone or something

→ have one’sheart in one’smouth

→ have one’sheart set on something

→ lose heart

→ one’sheart is in one’smouth

→ one’sheart is set on something

→ open one’sheart (to someone)

→ set one’sheart on something

→ to one’sheart’s content

→ with all one’sheart and soul

the heart n the most central,

essential, or vital part of

some-thing; the core of something (No

plural Treated as singular

Figura-tive on heart Q.)

heartbeat ["hart bit] 1 n one full

pulse of the heart 2 n a moment;

a second or two

→ do somethingin a heartbeat

→ be a heartbeat away from

something

hearty ["har ti] 1 adj energetic;

vigorous; strong and lively (Adv:

heartily Comp: heartier; sup:

heartiest.) 2 adj [of a meal] large

and satisfying (Adv: heartily.

Comp: heartier; sup: heartiest.)

→ hale and hearty

heat ["hit] 1 n hotness; the quality

that is felt at a higher temperature

(No plural.) 2 n hot weather (No

plural.) 3 n a grouping of

con-testants in a sporting event (The

winners of different heatscompete

in later heatsor the final event.)

4 tv to cause something to

become hotter 5 iv to become

hotter or warmer

→ in a dead heat

→ in heat

heat up 1 to get warmer or hot.

2 to grow more animated or

com-bative

heaven ["hEv @n] n [in certain

reli-gions] the place where God resides and where the souls of good peo-ple go after death (Usually associ-ated with the sky No plural.)

→ in heaven

→ in seventh heaven

→ manna from heaven

→ move heaven and earth to do something

the heavens n the sky; space.

(Treated as plural.)

heavy ["hEv i] 1 adj weighing a lot;

of great weight (Adv: heavily Comp: heavier; sup: heaviest.)

2 adj [of sound] strong, deep,

and ponderous (Adv: heavily Comp: heavier; sup: heaviest.)

3 adj great in amount; dense;

intense; thick (Adv: heavily Comp: heavier; sup: heaviest.)

4 adj serious; requiring a lot of

thought to understand (Adv:

heavily Comp: heavier; sup: heaviest.)

→ Time hangs heavy on someone’s hands.

hectic ["hEk tIk] adj very active;

very excited; very busy (Adv: hec-tically [ Ik li].)

heed ["hid] tv to pay close

atten-tion to something, such as advice

→ take heed

heel ["hil] 1 n the back part of the

foot; the part of the foot that bears

the weight of the body 2 n the

part of a shoe or sock that covers

the back part of the foot 3 n the

part of a shoe that supports the back part of the foot

→ Achilles’ heel

→ cool one’sheels

→ dig in one’sheels

→ hard on someone’sheels

→ high heels heart

264

→ kick up one’sheels

→ on the heels of something

→ set oneback on one’sheels

→ take to one’sheels

heels n shoes with a tall heelE,

worn by women, usually on

for-mal occasions (Short for high

heels.Treated as plural, but not

countable Number is expressed

with pair(s) of heels.)

height ["haIt] 1 n the amount that

someone or something is tall;

ver-tical length [of a person or of a

vertical object] (No plural.) 2 n

the length of something from

bot-tom to top; the distance to a

higher point from a lower level

→ at the height of something

heighten ["haIt n] 1 tv to cause

something to become more

intense or exciting 2 iv to

become more intense or exciting

held ["hEld] past tense and past

par-ticiple ofhold

helicopter ["hEl @ kap t#] n an

air-craft with large, rotating blades

that can lift and hold the aircraft

in the air

he’ll ["hil] cont he will.

hell ["hEl] 1 n [in certain

reli-gions] the place where the devil

resides and where the souls of

wicked people go after death (No

plural Sometimes capitalized.)

2 n suffering, misery, and

despair (Figurative on Q No

plu-ral.) 3 interj a word used to

indi-cate anger or surprise

(Colloquial.)

→ been to hell and back

→ for the hell of it

→ like a bat out of hell

hello [hE "lo] 1 n an act of

greet-ing someone; an act of saygreet-ing W

(Plural ends in -s.) 2 interj a

word used in greeting someone or

in answering the telephone

→ drop in (to say hello)

helm ["hElm] n the wheel or lever

used to control the direction of a ship (No plural form.)

→ at the helm (of something)

help ["hElp] 1 n aid; assistance.

(No plural Treated as singular.)

2 n someone or a group hired to

do a job, usually a service job (No plural Treated as singular or plu-ral, but not counted.) 3 iv to give

assistance 4 tv to give assistance

to someone or something; to aid

someone or something 5 tv to

relieve an illness or condition; to ease the discomfort caused by something; to make a sickness or discomfort less severe 6 interj a cry used when one needs aid or assistance

→ cannot help doing something

→ pitch in (and help)

→ pitch in (and help) (with something)

help do something to assist

[some-one to] do something

help out someplace to help [with

the chores] in a particular place

help out (with something) to help

with a particular chore

help someone back (to something)

to help someone return to some-thing or someplace

help (someone) do something to

assist someone [to] do something

help someone off with something

to help someone take off an article

of clothing

help someone off with something

265