▪ I. † how, howe, n.1 Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 1 hoᵹu, 3–4 hoȝe, howe, 4–5 how; 6–9 (see hoe n.3).
[OE. hoᵹu str. f., a parallel formation to OHG. hugu, hugi (MHG. hüge), OS. hugi (MDu. höghe, Du. heug), ON. hugr, Goth. hugs thought:—pre-Teut. kuk-; cf. Skr. {cced}uk, whence {cced}ūk heat, sorrow, grief.]
Care, anxiety, trouble, sorrow.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I 132 He næfð nan andᵹit ne hoᵹa embe Godes beboda. Ibid. 446 Habbon hi hoᵹe. a 1250 Owl & Night. 701 The nihtegale al hire hoȝe Mid rede hadde wel bitoȝe. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9466 Þo þis bataile was ido, & hii were al out of howe [rime of bristowe]. 13.. Sir Beues 4507 (MS. A.) What for care and for howe, He lenede to his sadelbowe. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 4539 Ac for þat strok had he non hoȝe [rime toȝe]. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. st. 230 And haue gret how bothe day and nyȝt How þey myȝt best bryng hit to anynde. 1567–1875 [see hoe n.3]. |
▪ II. how, howe, n.2 north.
(haʊ)
Also 7 hough, 9 houe.
[a. ON. haug-r mound, cairn, app. related to OTeut. hauh- high.]
1. A hill, hillock: now only in some local names in the north of England, as Great How, Silver How, Brant How, How Hill (near Ripon), etc.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxi. 3 Howys [montes] take pees til þe folke: and hilles rightwisnes. Ibid. lxxix. 11 Þe shadow of it couyrd howis [montes]: and the trese cedirs of god. a 1400–50 Alexander 3486 Be hiȝe hillis & howis & be holuȝe dounnes. 1628 Coke On Litt. i. i. §1 Howe also signifieth a Hill. 1800 Wordsw. Rural Archit. 4 To the top of Great How did it please them to climb. |
2. An artificial mound, tumulus, or barrow.
(Also in local names, as Maeshow, at Stennis, Orkney.)
| 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 89 This patient..sometimes did work in an Hough (as the country-people call it) of Blacomoore, for some suppos'd..treasure deeply lodg'd in the earth. 1788 W. Marshall Yorksh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), How, a round hillock; perhaps sometimes a natural knoll; but generally of factitious origin. The Moreland swells abound with hows. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Houe or Barrow, the tumuli which abound in the neighbourhood of Whitby, as the burial mounds of the ancient Britons. 1866 Edmonston Gloss. Orkney & Shetl. 50 Howie, a mound, a tumulus, a knoll. 1877 Greenwell Brit. Barrows 2 They ..are known as barrows..and cairns..and popularly in some parts of England as lows, houes, and tumps. 1947 Proc. Prehist. Soc. XIII. 33 When we reach the 10th century there were brochs in Caithness and Orkney..deemed eligible burial howes. 1963 Field Archaeol. (Ordnance Survey) (ed. 4) 45 Round burial mounds..are the commonest objects of antiquity met with in the field. They are called by different names in different parts of the country..barrow, low, howe, cairn. 1968 G. Jones Hist. Vikings ii. iii. 117 The mightiest of all northern howes, Raknehaugen.., over a hundred metres in diameter and some eighteen metres high, is an empty cenotaph. 1971 G. M. Brown Fishermen with Ploughs 7 Lust builds a howe over the burning ghost. |
▪ III. how, adv. (n.3)
(haʊ)
Forms: 1 h{uacu}, 2–4 hu, (3 hv, hwu, wu, quhu, qu(u)ow, heu, ou, heou, 3–4 hw, 4 (w)houȝ, whou, hwou, w, Kent. hue), 3–6 hou, 4– how, (4–5 hov, 4–6 whow, Sc. quhou, quhow, 5 howghe, owe, hough(e, who, 5–7 howe, 6 whoe).
[OE. h{uacu}:—*hwó, corresp. to OFris. hû, hô, OS. hwô, hwuo, wô (MDu. hoe (ho, hou), Du. hoe, MLG. woe), OHG. (Tatian) wuo:—OTeut. *hwô, an adverbial formation from the interrog. pron. stem hwa- who? Parallel to MDu. h{uacu}, and to Goth. hwaiwa, OHG. hweo, weo, wio, G. wie, with different suffixes.]
A. adv. An adverb primarily interrogative, used also in exclamations, and in conjunctive and relative constructions: cf. when, where, why. I. In direct questions.
1. a. Qualifying a verb: In what way or manner? By what means?
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 802 Hu sculon wit nu libban? c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xii. 29 Hu mæᵹ man ingan in stranges hus? c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 97 Hwu come þu [h]ider in? c 1300 Havelok 2753 Hw mithe he don him shame more? c 1315 Shoreham 16 Hou his hit ther bethe so fele? 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. xv. 35 How schulen deede men ryse aȝen? c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 42 Whouȝ schulde þei techen þe God þat con not hemselue? Ibid. 141 Whow myȝt-tou in thine broþer eiȝe a bare mote loken? c 1440 Promp. Parv. 249/2 Howe..[S. howȝ or qwow], quomodo, qualiter. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. iii. 25 How shall she know, how shall she finde the man? 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 159 How came we a shore? 1676 Hobbes Iliad Pref. (1686) 2 How is it possible..to please them all? 1776 Trial Nundocomar 23/2 How can I tell who has seen him? 1836 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) III. x. 149 This marvellous benefit..how was it to be attained? |
b. With intensive additions, as the devil, a fire, in the world, etc. (see devil, etc.).
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xix. 408 How the devyll dare ye thus speke? 1694 Echard Plautus 19 How a fire cou'd he see all this? 1772 Fletcher Logica Genev. 165 How in the world can he know..whether he is in the faith or not? 1889 Boldrewood Robbery under Arms xlix, How in the world did ever she get there? |
† c. In pregnant use = How is it that? How comes it that? Why? Obs.
| 1340 Ayenb. 47 Hue is hit uoul dede zeþþe hit is kendelich? c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 60 Hou shulde sich sense be error in man? a 1400–50 Alexander 459 How þat ȝe ga sa grete, gud dame? Ibid. 4345 Howe durst any be so bald to blemysche..Þe hand-werke of þat hiȝe gode? 1606 W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall xi, If thou be to ly at the Altar, how wantst thou a Priest to say thy soule Masse? 1611 Bible Gen. xxvi. 9 How saidst thou, She is my sister? |
d. ellipt. (a) With ellipsis of the rest of the question, which, if expressed in full, would reflect the form of a previous statement or question; also as how? see as adv. 30. (b) In ‘How if{ddd}?’ ‘How will (would) it be if{ddd}?’
| 1579, 1636 [see as adv. 30]. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. i. 30 How if your husband start some other where? 1592 ― Rom. & Jul. iv. iii. 30 How, if when I am laid into the Tombe, I wake before the time? 1762 Foote Lyar i. i, This disguise procures me many resources..As how?..Why, at a pinch, Sir, I am either a teacher of tongues..or a dancing⁓master. 1875 Jowett Plato III. 355 Is such an order of things possible, and how, if at all? |
2. a. In what condition or state? how are you?: (in quot. 1918) used ironically in sense ‘indeed!’ how do you do? (formerly how do you?): common phrases used in inquiring as to a person's health. See also how-do-ye, how-do-you-do. Also, how goes it? = how-do-you-do 1; how's (or how are) things (or, orig. Austral. and N.Z., tricks?); how do?: = how-do-you-do.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 20089 ‘Alas! alas! alas!’ said sco, ‘How mai i live, how mai i be!’ c 1460 Towneley Myst. viii. 333 How do thay in gessen? c 1481 Caxton Dialogues (E.E.T.S.) 4/36 What do ye? how is it with you? 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 35 How doest thou my heart? 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 249 How doth she now for wits? 1598 Florio Worlde of Wordes 41/1 How now? how goes it? go to, it is well. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 75 How would you be, If he..should But iudge you, as you are? 1764 [see go v. 18]. 1799 [see do v. 19]. a 1822 Shelley Magn. Lady v, How feel you now? 1837 Dickens Pickw. vii, Several dozen of ‘How-are-you's?’ hailed the old gentleman's arrival. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xi, Well, Master Andrew, how fare you? 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xiv, How's little Miss Sharp? 1850 Tennyson In Mem. iv, O heart, how fares it with thee now? 1886 H. Baumann Londinismen 79/2 How-do, how d'you do? 1892 I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto I. 147 ‘Well, how goes it, Reb Moshé?’ said Reb Shemuel with his cheery smile. 1918 Joyce Exiles i. 2 Beatrice. Did he practise the piano while I was away? Brigid. Practise, how are you! 1926 K. S. Prichard Working Bullocks viii. 86 They halloed and yelled to him: ‘H'lo, Red!’ ‘How's things?’ 1928 H. Crane Let. 27 Mar. (1965) 321 How goes it with your translations..? a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Mod. Lover (1934) 192 Hello, you two. How's things? 1934 Passing Show 27 Jan. 5/4 Hey, Morrison, old socks. How's things? 1939 C. Belton Outside Law in N.Z. xxv. 129 ‘Hallo. How are things?’ I greeted him. 1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood i. iv. 90 ‘How do, Father?’ said Gemini. 1941 Coast to Coast 1941 195 ‘G'day,’ he said. ‘How's tricks?’ 1949 D. M. Davin Roads from Home i. iii. 49 How's things?.. How's tricks with you? 1971 B. Malamud Tenants 149 ‘I won't be coming around to say howdo this Friday, Irene,’ Bill said tonelessly. 1973 L. Meynell Thirteen Trumpeters xiv. 211 ‘How's tricks?’ he enquired. ‘I'm fine. I slept like a top.’ |
b. how's that? in Cricket, an appeal to the umpire to give his decision whether a batsman is ‘out’ or not.
| 1833 New Sporting Mag. V. 325 ‘Well thrown by Huddleston!’―‘How's that?’ ‘Run out!’ 1891 Grace Cricket xi. 379 ‘How's that, umpire?’ ‘Not out’, said he. 1927 G. A. Terrill Out in Glare iv. 62 The ball swerved―pitched; the inner edge of his bat grazed it. ‘Rap!’ it had got him on the pad. ‘'s that?’ cried Verlenden, unaware of the graze. 1973 A. Mann Tiara ii. 13 The sharp click of bat on ball, and un-Italian cries of ‘Owzat’..showed that cricket was well underway. |
3. To what effect? With what meaning? Also, By what name? arch. (The mod. Eng. equivalent is ‘What?’)
| 1382 Wyclif Luke x. 26 What is writun in the lawe? hou redist thou? c 1460 Towneley Myst. viii. 398. c 1566 J. Alday tr. Boaystuau's Theat. World C iv, How is theyr maner when they would cove? 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. v. 13 b, How say you sir, heere is an other kinde of people. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 73 How art thou call'd? 1596 ― Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 20 How say you to a fat Tripe finely broyl'd? 1605 ― Macb. iii. iv. 128 How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person At our great bidding? 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. iii. iii, Sir O. Is there nothing you could dispose of? Ch. How do you mean? 1820 Scott Ivanhoe ii, How call'd you your franklin, Prior Aymer? 1849 Thackeray Pendennis lxxiv, ‘Will you join us in a little conspiracy?’ ‘How do you mean conspiracy, young man?’ |
4. a. ellipt. for ‘How is it?’ or ‘How say you?’ and used interjectionally, the mod. equivalent being ‘What?’ or ‘What!’ (= F. quoi!) arch. (exc. in how about{ddd}?). In U.S. colloq. speech ‘How?’ is used in asking for the repetition of something not quite understood (= F. comment?).
In OE. h{uacu} was prefixed to a negative question.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 26 Hu ne synt ᵹe selran þonne hiᵹ? c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3077 Hu! haue ȝe wrong. 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1860) 11 Whow? I go about to disgrace thee? 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. i. 71 Elb. My wife Sir? whom I detest before heauen, and your honour. Esc. How? thy wife? Elb. I sir. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 306 How! signior..have you not authority? 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xi, ‘How’, cried I, ‘relinquish the cause of truth?’ 1846 O. W. Holmes Rhymed Lesson 506 Don't say ‘How?’ for ‘What?’ 1858 ― Aut. Breakf.-t. iv, I was thinking,—he said indistinctly. How? What is't?—said our landlady. 18.. Emerson in Harper's Mag. (1884) Feb. 460/1 How about Matthew Arnold? |
b. how now? ellipt. for ‘How is it now?’ Often used interjectionally. arch.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 3779 ‘What how now’..‘Haþ Clarioun my cosyn aslawe þ⊇ man?’ 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. cxlix. 129 What how nowe..manace ye me? 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 244 How now? moodie? c 1704 Prior Merry Andrew 10 Why how now, Andrew!..To-day's conceit, methinks, is something dull. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge xlviii, How now! he cried..Why, where have you been hiding? 1878 Browning Poets Croisic xli, How now? My Duke's crown wrecked? |
c. how much: used in humorous colloq. requests for the repetition of something not heard or not understood. Also, how much? = what? eh? (Cf. what price so-and-so?)
| 1852 F. E. Smedley Lewis Arundel xxxiv. 292 ‘Then my answer must mainly depend on the exact height of the principles.’ ‘On the how much?’ inquired Frere, considerably mystified. 1914 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. II. iii. i. 509 ‘I've got to get..a picture of Mona Lisa.’ ‘Mona how much?’ said Alan. ‘La Gioconda, you ass.’ 1927 E. Bowen Hotel ii. 11 ‘She is a Hedonist.’ ‘A how-much?’ ‘A Hedonist.’ 1928 [see Gawd]. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 12 Ethelbert: Ain't you ever 'eard me speak o' the principles of Social Credit Reform? Alfred: 'Ow much? Ethelbert: What Major Douglas 'as to say about banks. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. iv. 243 ‘A friend of mine—could he ever come and stay here?’..‘Could he how much?’ said Daphne. 1949 Wodehouse Uncle Dynamite ii. 23 ‘You're like me, a gentle coffee-caddy.’ ‘A how much?’ |
d. and how!: excl. used to indicate that the effect of something is difficult to describe = and no mistake, very much so! orig. U.S.
| 1865 B. Taylor Let. 16 June in M. H. Taylor Life & Lett. Bayard Taylor (1884) II. xviii. 434, I finished an article for the ‘Atlantic’ that day. As if I were not ‘a tool of the elements!’ ‘And how?’ as the Germans say (Americanicé― ‘You'd better believe it!’). 1932 J. W. Drawbell Good Time! xvii. §3 ‘How's that for your orders from a typical American woman?’ ‘You mean it, Peggy?’ ‘And how!’ ‘Baby!’ 1932 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 752, I want to meet Yeats and Epstein and Eliot some day and how. 1933 E. E. Cummings eimi 83, I have fallen, fallen And How; tumbled into exactly 180 minuteless minutes of ‘materialist dialectic’. 1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway ii. 37 ‘Did Mr. Honey take it seriously?’ she asked. ‘And how!’ I said. 1963 V. Nabokov Gift iii. 175 One foot is buried in rich mud, the other is about to kick—and how!—the hideous, tar⁓black ball. 1965 Listener 25 Nov. 874/1 ‘Alas,’ wrote Harrington, ‘all earthly things do fail to mortals in enjoyment.’ And how. |
e. how about that?: Isn't that good, pleasing, surprising, etc.? colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1939 Time 25 Sept. 8/3 How about that? 1966 Word Study Dec. 2/2 How bout that. |
f. how's about? = how about? (sense 4 a). colloq. (chiefly U.S.).
| 1952 Holiday Jan. 41/1 How's about a drink? 1961 Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) Suppl. 1184/1 How's about having a drink? |
5. Chiefly qualifying an adj. or adv.: To what extent? In what degree? (Also with the vb. like, or an equivalent.)
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 17 Hu lange for-bere ic eow? Ibid. Luke xvi. 5 Hu mycel scealt þu minum hlaforde? a 1300 Cursor M. 10437 Hu lang sal þou þus-gat be wroth? 1382 Wyclif Mark ix. 21 Hou long is it sith this hath falle to hym? 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 686 How old, or what age are you? 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 38 How likes Gremio these quicke witted folkes? 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. i. 1119 How many miles from Waltham to London? 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 147 Well, Colonel, how do you like that Wine? 1798 Wordsw. We are seven iv, Sisters and brothers, little Maid, How many may you be? 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, How many runs? |
6. At what rate or price?
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 54 Shal. How a score of Ewes now? Sil... A score of good Ewes may be worth tenne pounds. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. iv. ii. 23 How now, how now? how goe maiden-heads? Mod. How did things go at the auction? How do you sell the plums? |
II. In direct exclamations.
7. a. In what a way! to what an extent or degree!
| a 900 Cynewulf Crist 216 Crist æl-mihtiᵹ hu þu ær wære eallum ᵹeworden..mid þinne wuldor-fæder cild acenned þurh his cræft and meaht! c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxii[i]. 1 Hu god is ece God! 1340 Ayenb. 89 Hou hy byeþ uer uram þise heȝnesse. 1382 Wyclif Lam. i. 1 Hou sitteth alone the cite ful of puple! c 1450 tr. De Imitatione i. xxii. 28 O hov gode a lif þat man haþ, hov grete, hov riche, hov miȝty, hov hye he is! c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 555 A! how I tremyl and trott for ȝese tydynges! 1513 Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 231 How [ed. 1553 quhou] schort quhile dois his fals plesance remane! 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 307 O how sweet it smelleth. 1611 Bible 2 Sam. i. 19 How are the mightie fallen! 1707 Watts Hymn, My God, how endless is thy love! 1808 Scott Marm. iii. vi, How pale his cheek, his eye how bright! Mod. colloq. How you do like to tease one! |
b. how ― can you get?: see get v. 33 b.
III. In dependent questions and exclamations.
8. Qualifying a verb: In what way, manner, condition, etc.; by what means. (Formerly often followed by that.) a. in dependence on verbs of telling, asking, thinking, perceiving, etc.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 431 Hycgað..hu ᵹe hi beswicen. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 310 Þa axode se casere þone ænne preost hu his nama wære. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 312 Hwanon he cymð and hu he byð. a 1225 Ancr. R. 218 Nimeð nu ȝeme hwu hit fareð. c 1325 Maximon i. in Rel. Ant. I. 119 Nou herkne hou it wes. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lxv. 284 (Harl. MS.) He..tolde his wife, Howe þat þe stiwarde saide. 1458 Agnes Paston in P. Lett. No. 311 I. 422 Send me..word..who Clement Paston hath do his dever in lernyng. 1535 Coverdale Esther ii. 11 Y{supt} he might knowe how Hester dyd. 1556 Lauder Tractate 277 Attend heirfor, quhow ȝe sulde chuse ȝour Pastoris. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 117 About ten of the clocke hee demaunded howe the time went. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xvi, How we all came to disregard so material a point is inconceivable. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 147 Shakespeare has taught us how great men should speak and act. |
b. In dependence on ns. like heed, caution, and adjs. of kindred meaning.
| [c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke viii. 18 Warniað hu ᵹe ᵹe-hyran.] 1526 Tindale Ibid., Take hede therfore how ye heare. 1573 Tusser Husb. lxxxi. (1878) 172 Take heede how thou laiest the bane for the rats. 1718 Freethinker No. 24 ¶6 Let us be cautious how we innovate too much. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xviii, Be wary how you engage. 1861 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1865) II. 62/1 The hawkers..are wary how they buy an animal suspected to be stolen. |
c. In dependence on a preposition.
| 1827 Southey Hist. Penins. War II. 300 [They] began to think only of how to secure the booty. 1884 Church Bacon ix. 214 The force and clearness of what was said depended so much on how it was said. |
9. Followed by an infinitive: In what way; by what means. how to do = the way in which one should (or may) do; also ellipt., as how to, and often used attrib., as ‘how-to’ discourse, ‘how-to-do-it’ manual, etc.; also (in titles of books, etc.) followed by a verb.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3751 Consail me, fader, how to liue [Gött. hu i sal liue]. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 367 [He] wiste nought how for to rise. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 56 Thomas Wolsey..studyed daye and night how to be a Cardinal. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 160 What should a manne doe with a weapon, that knoweth not how to use it? 1678 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 46 The House is..consulting how to raise this vast some of monies. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 174 ¶5 A set of companions who knew how to laugh. 1838 H. Martineau (title) How to observe: morals and manners. 1847–9 Helps Friends in C. Ser. i. (1851) II. 97 There is something I wanted to say..but I did not see how to bring it in. 1857 (title) How to publish: a manual for authors. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 272, I am at a loss how to express my feeling of admiration. 1895 Law Times XCIX. 546/1 What books to read, and how to read them. 1897 Cavalry Tactics Introd. 3 There is no better lesson how not to do it. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 634 You had to come back..to show the understudy in the title rôle how to. 1923 A. Bennett (title) How to make the best of life. 1941 Beals & Brody Lit. Adult Educ. 453 Nearly all councils also make some provision for supplying information, such as distributing manuals of the ‘how-to-do-it’ variety. 1942 H. Haycraft Murder for Pleasure p. vii, One or two ‘how-to-write-it’ manuals. 1946 C. Morris Signs, Lang. & Behavior v. x. 143 It is ‘how to’ discourse: discourse informing one how to rivet, how to play the flute. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Nov. p. xxxviii/4 Light fiction, popular uplift, or how-to-do-it-books. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 19 Jan. 43/1 A how-to-cook-turkey booklet! 1968 Sat Rev. 27 July 26/3 Most of the how-to books at this time of year are busy with water sports. 1972 T. P. McMahon Issue of Bishop's Blood (1973) xii. 176 She had washed her face, and though it doesn't say so in the women's how-to-books, there are some women who look great that way. |
10. With weakened meaning, introducing an indirect statement, after verbs of saying, perceiving, and the like: = That. Formerly freq. how that, and in mod. dialect speech as how (see as adv. 28).
see how still more or less calls attention to the manner.
| c 1000 ælfric Josh. ii. 10 We ᵹehirdon..hu ᵹe ofsloᵹon..Seon and Og. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2732 We witen wel quat is bi-tid, Quuow ȝister-dai was slaȝen and hid. 13.. K. Alis. 1565 He..saide to the kyng, How his fadir hette Felip. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 526 Hym thoughte how that the wynged god Mercurie Biforn hym stood. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 57 A letter was brought..certefiyng him how he was elected to be a Cardinal. 1571 Satir. Poems Reform. xxix. 3 Seing quhow all erdly thingis wor subiect to mutatioun. 1611 Bible Ruth i. 6 Shee had heard..how that the Lord had visited his people. 1707 Watts Hymn, ‘Now for a tune of lofty praise’, Sing how he left the worlds of light. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. iii, He was well informed as how Rory was the best scholar of his age. 1801 Monthly Rev. XXXV. 358 ‘If people knew as how they could talk, they would be obliged to work also.’ 1844 Dickens Christmas Carol iii, Bob Cratchit told them how he had a situation in his eye for Master Peter. |
11. Chiefly qualifying an adj. or adv. (also with verb like, etc.): To what extent; in what degree.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 13 Ne ᵹehyrst þu hu fela saᵹena hiᵹ onᵹen þe secgeað? c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 5 Ȝe hi hered hu muchel edmodnesce ure drihten dude for us. c 1300 Havelok 287 Quanne the Erl..herde..hw wel she ferde, Hw wis sho was, w chaste, hw fayr. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiv. 153 Seez how gude a man þis was. 1563 Winȝet Wks. (1890) II. 21 It is..furthschawin, quhoumekle calamitie is inbrocht. a 1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xi. (1642) 31 All which declareth..upon how fickle ground all their Religion standeth. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 11 You know how small my estate is. Mod. I do not know how she will take it. |
12. With ellipsis of the rest of the clause introduced by how, or of part of it.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 159 Lusteð nu..hwo hire ledde and wu and hwider. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 47 Say forth, quod she, and telle me how. 1471 Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. No. 675 III. 15 [He] browt me word..that he hathe sped well, but howghe, that wot I nott. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 52 Borowed..golde and sylver, but howe muche I am not sure. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 25 The Ocean was as white as snow, but how caused I am ignorant. 1821 Byron Sardan. iii. i. 178 He has wound About my heart, I know not how nor why. 1893 Bookman June 82/2 Nobody writes moral-allegorical tales now, because nobody knows how. |
IV. Introducing a relative clause.
13. In what way, manner, condition, etc.; by what means; in the way that; however; as. (Formerly also how that.) † how were it, pa. tense of howbeit. (Cf. however.)
| a 1400 Pistill of Susan 202 We schul presenten þis pleint, hou þou euer be paied. 1427 Rolls Parlt. IV. 326/2 Howe were it, þat it be not þought, þat any such þing wetyngly proceded of your entent. c 1475 Partenay 3207 Hou were it that ioy of hys fader had, And of Melusine his moders welfaire. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. ii. 12 Looke how we can..Interpretation will misquote our lookes. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 955 That what she had atchiev'd..She should dispose of how she pleas'd. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth i. (1723) 61 Be that how it will. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. xiii, He would go as a merchant, or how I pleased to order him. 1837 J. H. Newman Proph. Office Ch. 105 He left them to gather the great truth for themselves how they could. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xii. 176 Others strove to escape how they might among the ditches. |
† 14. a. Qualifying an adj. or adv.: To what extent, in what degree (that); however. how well (that): although, albeit; cf. Du. hoewel. Obs.
| 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 38 How wel that he had supposed that he had made al faste I was not so moche a fool but that I fonde the hole wel. 1485 ― Paris & V. 45 How cruel that he be..hys hert shal not suffre to do you ony harme. c 1500 Melusine xxiv. 182 To..acquere thordre of knyghthode, as our bretheren..haue don, how wel we be nat worthy to receuye it so nobly..as they haue doo. ? c 1530 Crt. of Love 207 Aftir this shall be myne hole entent To serve and please, how dere that love be bought. 1602 Narcissus (1893) 687 How deepe I dive, yet thee I cannott find. |
† b. = As {ddd} as; how soon (that) = as soon as (F. aussitôt que). Obs. Chiefly Sc.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. xvii. 394 Thei ben stabili endewid, how stabili a perpetual chauntry preest is endewid. 1582–8 Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 209 Sa that howsoone he espyit Sir James to be remouit from the hous, he then immediately approached with his souldiours. a 1639 Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. i. (1677) 8 How long Hildebert lived he aboad in his company. 1754 W. Goodall in H. Campbell Love Lett. Mary Q. Scots (1824) 192 Cecil..had all in readiness to be published how soon the Duke should be beheaded. |
† c. Correlative to so qualifying an adj. or adv. (sometimes omitted): To what extent; in what degree; as {ddd} as. by how much{ddd}by so much = L. quantum {ddd} tantum. (A Latinism.) Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Eccl. ii. 13 So myche wisdam wente beforn folie, hou myche [1388 as muche as] liȝt is in difference fro dercnesses. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. lv. 133 Hov muche þat euery man is in þin eyen, lorde, so muche he is & no more. 1535 Coverdale Jer. ii. 28 How many cities thou hast (o Iuda) so many goddes hast thou also. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 378 They worship also serpents..and the more they feare and reverence them, by how much the more deformed and monstrous they are. 1620 Venner Via Recta iii. 47 By how much the younger they are, by so much the moyster they are. 1703 Moderation a Virtue 13 So much the more Amiable, by how much the less it has of humane Mixtures. 1879 E. Arnold Lt. Asia viii. (1881) 233 By howsomuch the householder Purgeth himself of self..By so much happier comes he to next stage. |
† 15. With n. as antecedent (esp. with manner, way, etc.): In which (way); by which (name). Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 53 The names how thei clepen hem. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 50 An hundred wayes..how..to deliver or convey them out of pryson. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 539, I see no way how it is possible. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iv. xvi. §12 We perceive not the ways and manner how they are produc'd. |
V. 16. With indef. adj. (or adv.): In (some, any) way or manner. rare. Cf. anyhow, somehow.
| c 1000 Eccl. Inst. xxi. in Thorpe Laws II. 418 Ðæt se lareow þe him tela tæce him sylf elles-hu do. c 1000 in Cockayne Shrine 195 Ne meᵹ nu hu ælles beon. 1671 Milton Samson 604 To prosecute the means of thy deliverance By ransom or how else. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. xiii, He found means, some how or other, to go. 1858 Hawthorne Ancestral Footstep (1883) 514 The old Hospitaller must die in his bed, or some other how. |
VI. Phrases.
17. how so? a. Interrogative: How is it so? How is that?
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5207 How sua, es þar na noþer king? c 1350 Will. Palerne 980 ‘Þis man..Þat neȝh is driue to þe deþ al for youre sake!’ ‘How so for my sake?’ c 1450 Erle Tolous 847 A, devyll! he seyde, how soo? 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. v. 69 How so sir, did she change her determination? 1632 Sherwood, How so? Puis, et puis? comment cela? |
† b. Relative: In whatever way, howsoever.
| c 1205 Lay. 25703 Þat we hine læteð ane faren heu swa he wule. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 183 Vnfolden or folden my fuste & myn paume, Al is but an hande how so I torne it. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. li. viii, O Lord, how soe I stand or fall, Leave not thy loved Sion to embrace. |
† c. However much; notwithstanding that, although. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16305 Ȝit wot non how hit wyl bynde [v.r. ende]; Hou so bitwyxt hem be strif or stresse. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. iii. (1885) 113 How so be it that þe Ffrenche kynge reignith vppon is peple dominio regali, yet [etc.]. Ibid. iv. 116 How so be it þat thai do so ayenst thar willes. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wars ii. (R.), Welcome home, howso unfortunate. 1614 J. Norden Custom in Farr S. P. Jas. I (1848) 310 [They] shall never fall, howso they seeme to slide. |
18. † how and about: with reference to, (all) about. here's how! a formula used in drinking healths. † how chance: see chance v. 5. how, when, and where: a game of guessing, in which the guesser asks the questions ‘How do you like it? When do you like it?’ etc., of each of the other players.
| 1754 Richardson Grandison (1766) V. 46 Emily wrote you all how-and-about it. Ibid. (1812) VI. 63 (D.) Be good, and write me everything how and about it. 1844 Dickens Christmas Carol iii, At the game of How, When, and Where, she was very great. 1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 99 A health to ourselves ere we scatter..Here's how! 1925 [see bung-ho int.]. 1951 J. B. Priestley Festival at Farbridge ii. i. 152 ‘Well,’ said Mr. Hull, holding up his glass,..‘here's how!’ 1959 E. Burgess Divided we Fall xi. 132 Martin was clasping a tumbler half filled with whisky. ‘Here's how,’ said the fat man. |
19. how come? colloq. (orig. U.S.) phr.: how did (or does) it come about (that)? Cf. come v. 21.
| 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer., How-come? rapidly pronounced huc-cum, in Virginia. Doubtless an English phrase, brought over by the original settlers, and propagated even among the negro slaves. The meaning is, How did what you tell me happen? How came it? 1897 R. M. Stuart In Simpkinsville 230 She heard Miss Euphemia wonderin' the other day how come the right shoulder of her black silk dress to wear out. 1930 Sat. Even. Post 8 Mar. 12/1 These firms assert blandly to..journalists who ring them up, wishful to know how come, they have nothing against women. 1932 T. S. Eliot Sweeney Agonistes 17 Hello Doris! Hello Dusty! How do you do! How come? how come? will you permit me ―. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling iv. 34 That's how come him to have appetite for a nip o' pore old Betsy. 1957 New Yorker 13 July 19/1 These days, the sensation of the stamp-collecting world is United Nations commemorative stamps. How come? 1958 G. Mitchell Spotted Hemlock xviii. 210 How come they didn't spot her? 1959 H. Hobson Mission House Murder xviii. 122 ‘How come you make it murder?’ he asked. 1969 in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 213 How come you ain't got Wallace with you tonight? 1971 Black World Oct. 62/1 So that's how come I asked My Man Bovanne to dance. 1973 T. Allbeury Choice of Enemies iv. 16 ‘Well, we are getting a bit like the Krauts, you know.’ ‘How come?’ |
B. n.3 (often in collocation with why).
1. A question or query as to the way or manner. hows and whys (quot. 1730), doubts.
| 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1061/2 He left their question & their how vnsoyled. Ibid., Lette vs neuer in such high thinges either speake or thynke that same howe. 1577 Fulke Confut. Purg. 456 To all the other howes and whyes I aunswere with one word, he had no warrant..in the law of God. 1730 T. Boston Mem. App. 35 How difficult to get our hows and whys crucified. Mod. Bother your hows and whys! |
2. The way or manner (in which).
| 1551 Bp. Gardiner Pres. in Sacram. 55 (R.) The (howe) and maner whereof, God knoweth. 1666 W. Boghurst Loimographia (1894) 75 Wee are not soe ignorant in the matter as the method, in the what, as the how. 1701 Norris Ideal World i. v. 226 In most things the how is more difficult than the whether, and our philosophy can prove a great deal more than it can explain. 1845 W. G. Simms Wigwam & Cabin 1st Ser. 7 You joined the army again, and come in with Greene? Was that the how? 1847 Longfellow Ev. i. iii. 31 Must we in all things look for the how, and the why, and the wherefore? 1865 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 284 Write distinctly the when, and the how, of your home-coming. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds ii. 27 Daddy went off at last, and that was the how of my first trip. 1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd xvi. 272, I calc'late that's about the how of it. 1949 Amer. Speech XXIV. 39 In recent years method, explanation, and the how..promise to force modus operandi into the archives. |
▪ IV. how, howe, int.1 (n.4) Obs. or dial.
Also 6 hoaw, 7 whowe.
[A natural utterance; it is probable that the different uses are independent in origin, and properly different words.]
1. An exclamation to attract attention, etc.; = ho int.1 Also n., as name for this.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 118 [They] hulpen erie his half acre with ‘how! trolli-lolli!’ c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 391 Thanne wol I clepe, how Alison! how John! Be myrie for the flood wol passe anon. a 1400 Sir Perc. 661 He cryed, ‘How, mane, on thi mere, Bryng agayne the kynges gere’. 14.. Audelay in MS. Douce 302 lf. 34/1 Thai halowyd here howndys with how, In holtis herde I never soche hew. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 85 How, hosteler, how, a peck of otys and a botell of haye. 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 602 Mak roume, sirs, hoaw! that I may rin! 1579 Epit. in Miller Hist. Doncaster, Howe, Howe, who is heare? I Robin of Doncastere and Magaret my feare. 1600 W. Watson Decachordon ix. viii. (1602) 327 With hallowes and how-bubs, with whowbes, whowes, and outcries. 1804 Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday (Northmbld. Gloss.), Ki Geordy, how, where are ye gannin'? 1825 Brockett, How 'way, come away;..very common in Newcastle. |
2. A cry of sailors in heaving the anchor up, etc.: usually with hale, heave (cf. heave ho, hey ho). Also n., as name for this.
| c 1450 Pilgr. Sea Voy. 13 in Stac. Rome etc. 37 To dresse hem sone about the mast, Theyr takelyng to make With ‘howe! hissa!’ 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xv, Mariners noyse with hale and how. 1471, 1475, etc. [see hey-ho]. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ii. 120 Mony marynair Besy at thair werk..with mony heis and how. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 289 Wyth, Hey, and wyth howe, Sit we down arow. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. x. (1739) 18 Like a great Hoe in a ship-yard at the stirring of a little log. 1867 Morris Jason x. 587 And so drew Argo up, with hale and how, On the grass. |
3. A cry of pain or grief. In Sc. (hou).
| 1575–6 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 271 [He] was so sore vexed with siknes that he raved and showtyd, cryinge ‘howe’. c 1750 Mary Hamilton xi. in Child Ballads (1889) III. 392 Monie a lady fair Siching and crying, Och how! |
▪ V. how, n.5
(haʊ)
Colloq. abbreviation of howitzer.
| 1915 Times 14 Apr. 7 The boom in the distance from one of our ‘hows’. 1919 C. P. Thompson Cocktails 133 A couple of batteries of heavy Hows. |
▪ VI. how, int.2
(haʊ)
[Cf. Sioux háo, Omaha hau.]
An ejaculation, orig. used by Indians of north-eastern North America in a variety of applications. Also repeated.
First noticed in the early 17th century by the French missionary Jean de Brébeuf, describing Huron oratory as he had observed it in Ontario. The Hurons showed their approval of a speech by a shouted haau (Jesuit Relations, documents pertaining to 1636, Thwaites, Vol. X, p. 259).
| 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Interior Amer. 95 We were interrupted by one of the chiefs crying ‘How’, signifying amongst the Indians ‘Come on’, or ‘let us begin’. 1841 G. Catlin Lett. on N. Amer. Indians II. 172 ‘How! how!’ vociferated all of them, thereby approving what was said, giving assent by the word how, which is their word for yes. 1868 Harper's Mag. Feb. 301/2 The Indians..complimented ‘Little Bill’ with a succession of how-how-hows! 1911 N.Y. Even. Post 28 Jan. (Suppl.) 3 The expression ‘How’, used by army men in giving a toast, is equivalent to the expression, ‘Here's to your health’. Some think it is merely the Indian corruption of ‘How d'ye do?’ abbreviated by the Indian to ‘How’. Others believe the expression is derived from the Indian language direct. 1962 Alberta Hist. Rev. Autumn 11/1 The Blackfoot Indians usually greet a white man with ‘How, How!’ sometimes, ‘How wa-pe’. |
▪ VII. † how, howe, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 hoᵹian, (huᵹian), 2–3 hoȝe, 3 heoȝe, 4 howe; 8–9 (see ho v.3).
[OE. hoᵹian, a later modification of hycgan = OS. huggjan, OHG. hucken, ON. hyggja, Goth. hugjan, to think, f. Goth. hug-s thought: see how n.1 Cf. Du. heugen to remember.]
intr. To be anxious, think, consider, purpose, intend.
| Beowulf (Z.) 633 Ic þæt hoᵹode..þæt ic anunga eowra leoda willan ᵹ eworhte. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 34 Ne beo ᵹe na hoᵹiende ymb þa morᵹenlican neode. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 113 Ȝif he hit betan mei, and umbe þe bota [ne] hoȝað. c 1205 Lay. 13417 Al þe king bilufde swa Fortiger hoȝede. a 1250 Owl & Night. 455 Hwane mon hoȝeþ of his scheve..Ich fare hom. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 135 in O.E. Misc. 110 Ne scolde neuer yongmon howyen to swiþe. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. 23 His hap he deth ful harde on hete, aȝeynz he howeth henne. |
▪ VIII. how, howe, v.2 Obs. or dial.
[f. how int.1]
1. To cry how! to shout as sailors.
| 1508–16 Promp. Parv. 251/2 (edd. J. Notary and W. de W.) Howen, celeumo [c 1440 Howtyn, or cryen as shepmenn]. |
2. To cry how! with pain or grief.
| c 1750 Mary Hamilton xiii. in Child Ballads (1889) III. 392 What need ye hech and how, ladies? What need ye how for me? |
▪ IX. how
see hough, houve, howe.
▪ X. how
obs. or dial. f. who.