8-letter words starting with h
- handsful — Plural form of handful.
- handsome — having an attractive, well-proportioned, and imposing appearance suggestive of health and strength; good-looking: a handsome man; a handsome woman.
- handspan — The width of a person’s hand, as measured from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, when the fingers and thumb are spread out.
- handwash — If you handwash something, you wash it by hand rather than in a washing machine.
- handwave — [possibly from gestures characteristic of stage magicians] To gloss over a complex point; to distract a listener; to support a (possibly actually valid) point with blatantly faulty logic. If someone starts a sentence with "Clearly..." or "Obviously..." or "It is self-evident that...", it is a good bet he is about to handwave (alternatively, use of these constructions in a sarcastic tone before a paraphrase of someone else's argument suggests that it is a handwave). The theory behind this term is that if you wave your hands at the right moment, the listener may be sufficiently distracted to not notice that what you have said is wrong. Failing that, if a listener does object, you might try to dismiss the objection with a wave of your hand. The use of this word is often accompanied by gestures: both hands up, palms forward, swinging the hands in a vertical plane pivoting at the elbows and/or shoulders (depending on the magnitude of the handwave); alternatively, holding the forearms in one position while rotating the hands at the wrist to make them flutter. In context, the gestures alone can suffice as a remark; if a speaker makes an outrageously unsupported assumption, you might simply wave your hands in this way, as an accusation, far more eloquent than words could express, that his logic is faulty.
- handwork — work done by hand, as distinguished from work done by machine.
- handyman — a person hired to do various small jobs, especially in the maintenance of an apartment building, office building, or the like.
- handymen — Plural form of handyman.
- hanepoot — a variety of muscat grape used as a dessert fruit and in making wine
- hang it! — an exclamation of anger or exasperation
- hang out — to fasten or attach (a thing) so that it is supported only from above or at a point near its own top; suspend.
- hang tag — A hang tag is a small cardboard or plastic label that hangs from an item of clothing and gives information such as size, color, fabric, and price.
- hang ten — to fasten or attach (a thing) so that it is supported only from above or at a point near its own top; suspend.
- hang-dog — browbeaten; defeated; intimidated; abject: He always went about with a hangdog look.
- hangable — to fasten or attach (a thing) so that it is supported only from above or at a point near its own top; suspend.
- hangared — a shed or shelter.
- hangbird — a bird that builds a hanging nest, especially the Baltimore oriole.
- hangchow — Older Spelling. Hangzhou.
- hangfire — a delay in the detonation of gunpowder or other ammunition, caused by some defect in the fuze.
- hangings — Plural form of hanging.
- hangnail — a small piece of partly detached skin at the side or base of the fingernail.
- hangouts — Plural form of hangout.
- hangover — the disagreeable physical aftereffects of drunkenness, such as a headache or stomach disorder, usually felt several hours after cessation of drinking.
- hangtags — Plural form of hangtag.
- hangzhou — a province in E China, on the East China Sea. 39,768 sq. mi. (102,999 sq. km). Capital: Hangzhou.
- hankered — to have a restless or incessant longing (often followed by after, for, or an infinitive).
- hankerer — A person who hankers.
- hannibal — 247–183 b.c, Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps and invaded Italy (son of Hamilcar Barca).
- hannover — a member of the royal family that ruled Great Britain under that name from 1714 to 1901.
- hanotaux — (Albert Auguste) Gabriel [al-ber oh-gyst ga-bree-el] /alˈbɛr oʊˈgüst ga briˈɛl/ (Show IPA), 1853–1944, French statesman and historian.
- hanratty — James. 1936–62, Englishman executed, despite conflicting evidence, for a murder on the A6 road. Subsequent public concern played a major part in the abolition of capital punishment in Britain. New DNA evidence led to an appeal by Hanratty's supporters being dismissed in 2002
- hanukiah — a candelabrum having nine branches that is lit during the festival of Hanukkah
- hanukkah — a Jewish festival lasting eight days, celebrated from the 25th day of the month of Kislev to the 2nd of Tevet in commemoration of the rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees following their victory over the Syrians under Antiochus IV, characterized chiefly by the lighting of the menorah on each night of the festival.
- hanumans — Plural form of hanuman.
- haphsiba — Hephzibah (def 1).
- haphtara — the part of the Prophets read in synagogue services on the Sabbath and certain major holy days: the selection is related to the part of the Pentateuch read just before it
- haploidy — (genetics) The state of being haploid.
- haplopia — normal vision (opposed to diplopia).
- haplosis — the production of haploid chromosome groups during meiosis.
- happened — to take place; come to pass; occur: Something interesting is always happening in New York.
- happiest — delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing: to be happy to see a person.
- happoshu — a Japanese drink, similar to beer
- hapsburg — a German princely family, prominent since the 13th century, that has furnished sovereigns to the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Spain, etc.
- haptenic — (immunology) Of or pertaining to a hapten.
- hapteron — a structure by which a fungus, aquatic plant, or algae colony attaches to an object; a holdfast.
- haptical — of or relating to the sense of touch: the haptic sensation of holding a real book in your hands.
- harakeke — (NZ) flax, specifically Phormium tenax.
- harakiri — Alternative spelling of hara-kiri.
- harald i — called Harald Fairhair. ?850–933, first king of Norway: his rule caused emigration to the British Isles
- harald v — born 1937, king of Norway since 1991.