▪ I. howe, how, n. Sc. and north. dial.
(haʊ, hou)
[Sc. repr. of ME. holl n.: cf. Sc. bow(e, know(e, pow, row(e, scrow, = boll, knoll, poll, roll, scroll.]
† 1. A hole. Obs. rare.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 153 Howis in haill clath sall be rent. |
† 2. The hold of a ship. Obs.
| 1513 Douglas æneis v. xii. 33 The hait fyre consumis fast the how; Our all the schip discendis the peralus low. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 52 The voce wes hard of ane woman, in the how of the schip. 1570 Henry's Wallace x. 825 Her is men off mar waill To saill thi schip; tharfor in how [c 1470 holl] thow ga. |
3. A hollow place or depression; esp. a hollow on the surface of the earth, a basin or valley.
Frequent in place-names in Scotland, as Habbie's How, the Howe of the Mearns, of the Merse, etc.
| 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 70 Thy thundring voice sone made them flie Ower hiddeous hills and howes. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vi. 320 Donald now lyand vndir how in the Hilandis. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 90 Gibbie That won in the how of the hill. 1795 Burns On Destr. Drumlanrig Woods 3, I..traced its bonie howes and haughs, Where linties sang and lambkins play'd. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xxii, We sat down..in a howe of the hill-side till the mist should have risen. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., How, a hollow, a depression. The how of the neck. |
b. The depth or middle (of winter, night, etc.).
| 1818 Hogg Brownie of B. I. 9 (Jam.) Ye ken fu' weel, gudeman, ye courtit me i' the howe o' the night yoursel'. 1825 Jamieson, How o' Winter, the middle or depth of winter. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley xxxii, Laid down in their hall in the ‘howe of the night’. Mod. Sc. In the howe o' the year. |
▪ II. howe, how, a.1 (adv.) Sc. and north. dial.
(haʊ, hou)
Also hou, hough.
[Sc. form of holl a.: see howe n.]
Hollow, concave; deep, low. In quot. 1536 how tide = low tide.
| c 1450 Henryson Test. Cres. 157 His ene drowpit, how, sonkin in his heid. a 1500 P. Johnston Thre Deid Powis iii, Full laithly thus sall ly thy lusty heid, Holkit and how. 1536 Reg. Mag. Sig. 1513–1546 No. 1598 Descendentes ad aquam de Annand, et ab aqua de Annand ad aquam de Edin in lie howtide. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 5491 Crepand furth of howe Cauernis. 16.. Confess. in Glanvill Sadducismus (1726) 393 (Jam.) The black man's voice was hough and goustie. 1828 Craven Dial., How gait, a hollow gait or way. Ibid., How-rush, a hollow rush. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., How, hough, hogh, hollow, deep..How-drill, the hollow between two drills in a field. |
b. Comb., as how(e)-backed adj.
| 1786 Burns To auld mare i, Tho' thou's howe-backit..an' knaggie. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss. s.v. How, How-backt, sunken in the back. |
c. adv.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 395 Ane grit horne, that borit wes all throw, Quhair[in] tha spak richt hideuslie and how. 1785 Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook ix, It spak right howe—‘My name is Death’. |
Hence howness, hollowness, concavity, depth.
| a 1605 Montgomerie Flyting w. Polwart 417 Be the hight of the heauens, and be the hownesse of hell. |
▪ III. † howe, a.2 Obs.
Forms: 1 hoᵹa, 3–4 *hoȝe, 4 howe.
[OE. hoᵹa, f. root of how n.1, v.1]
Prudent.
| a 950 Durham Ritual (Surtees) 105/1 Hoᵹa bilwitnise [prudens modestia]. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 45 Hwa..is ᵹeleafful þeᵹn and hoᵹa? c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 38 The howe wiif anon it fett. |
▪ IV. howe
obs. f. hove, how, hue, owe.