HAW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does haw mean? 

• HAW (noun)
  The noun HAW has 2 senses:

1. a spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus

2. the nictitating membrane of a horse

  Familiarity information: HAW used as a noun is rare.

• HAW (verb)
  The verb HAW has 1 sense:

1. utter 'haw'

  Familiarity information: HAW used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HAW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

haw; hawthorn

Hypernyms ("haw" is a kind of...):

bush; shrub (a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "haw"):

Crataegus apiifolia; Crataegus marshallii; parsley-leaved thorn; parsley haw (southern United States hawthorn with pinnately lobed leaves)

Crataegus biltmoreana; scarlet haw (common shrub or small tree of the eastern United States having few thorns and white flowers in corymbs followed by bright orange-red berries)

blackthorn; Crataegus calpodendron; Crataegus tomentosa; pear haw; pear hawthorn (erect and almost thornless American hawthorn with somewhat pear-shaped berries)

cockspur hawthorn; cockspur thorn; Crataegus crus-galli (eastern United States hawthorn with long straight thorns)

Crataegus aestivalis; mayhaw; summer haw (hawthorn of southern United States bearing a juicy, acidic, scarlet fruit that is often used in jellies or preserves)

Crataegus laevigata; Crataegus oxycantha; English hawthorn; may; whitethorn (thorny Eurasian shrub of small tree having dense clusters of white to scarlet flowers followed by deep red berries; established as an escape in eastern North America)

Crataegus monogyna; English hawthorn (European hawthorn having deeply cleft leaves and bright red fruits; widely cultivated in many varieties and often grown as impenetrable hedges; established as an escape in eastern North America)

Crataegus coccinea mollis; Crataegus mollis; downy haw; red haw (American red-fruited hawthorn with stems and leaves densely covered with short woolly hairs)

Crataegus oxyacantha; evergreen thorn (evergreen hawthorn of southeastern Europe)

Crataegus coccinea; Crataegus pedicellata; red haw (American red-fruited hawthorn with dense corymbs of pink-red flowers)

Holonyms ("haw" is a member of...):

Crataegus; genus Crataegus (thorny shrubs and small trees: hawthorn; thorn; thorn apple)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The nictitating membrane of a horse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("haw" is a kind of...):

nictitating membrane; third eyelid (a protective fold of skin in the eyes of reptiles and birds and some mammals)

• HAW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they haw    ... he / she / it haws   
Past simple: hawed   
Past participle: hawed   
-ing form: hawing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter 'haw'

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

he hemmed and hawed

Hypernyms (to "haw" is one way to...):

emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

I tell you your party is rotten and filled with grafters, and instead of flying into a rage you hum and haw and admit there is a great deal in what I say.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was a mile from Thornfield, in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for nuts and blackberries in autumn, and even now possessing a few coral treasures in hips and haws, but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)