Adjacent Words

Hawk definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HAWK, n. A genus of fowls, the Falco, of many species, having a crooked beak, furnished with a cere at the base, a cloven tongue, and the head thick set with feathers. Most of the species are rapacious, feeding on birds or other small animals. Hawks were formerly trained for sport or catching small birds.
HAWK, v.i. To catch or attempt to catch birds by means of hawks trained for the purpose, and let loose on the prey; to practice falconry.
He that hawks at larks and sparrows.
A falc'ner Henry is, when Emma hawks.
1. To fly at; to attack on the wing; with at.
To hawk at flies.
HAWK, v.i. To make an effort to force up phlegm with noise; as, to hawk and spit.
To hawk up, transitively; as, to hawk up phlegm.
HAWK, n. An effort to force up phlegm from the throat, accompanied with noise.
HAWK, v.t. [L. auctio, auction, a sale by outcry.] To cry; to offer for sale by outcry in the street, or to sell by outcry; as, to hawk goods or pamphlets.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: diurnal bird of prey typically having short rounded wings and a long tail
2: an advocate of an aggressive policy on foreign relations [syn: hawk, war hawk] [ant: dove, peacenik]
3: a square board with a handle underneath; used by masons to hold or carry mortar [syn: mortarboard, hawk] v
1: sell or offer for sale from place to place [syn: peddle, monger, huckster, hawk, vend, pitch]
2: hunt with hawks; "the tribes like to hawk in the desert"
3: clear mucus or food from one's throat; "he cleared his throat before he started to speak" [syn: clear the throat, hawk]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English hauk, from Old English hafoc; akin to Old High German habuh hawk, Russian kobets a falcon Date: before 12th century 1. any of numerous diurnal birds of prey belonging to a suborder (Falcones of the order Falconiformes) and including all the smaller members of this group; especially accipiter 2. a small board or metal sheet with a handle on the underside used to hold mortar 3. one who takes a militant attitude and advocates immediate vigorous action; especially a supporter of a war or warlike policy — compare dove • hawkish adjective • hawkishly adverb • hawkishness noun II. verb Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. to hunt birds by means of a trained hawk 2. to soar and strike like a hawk transitive verb to hunt on the wing like a hawk III. verb Etymology: imitative Date: 1581 transitive verb to raise by trying to clear the throat <hawk up phlegm> intransitive verb to utter a harsh guttural sound in or as if in hawking IV. noun Date: 1604 an audible effort to force up phlegm from the throat V. transitive verb Etymology: back-formation from ²hawker Date: 1713 to offer for sale by calling out in the street <hawking newspapers>; broadly sell

Britannica Concise

Any of many small to medium-sized, diurnal birds of prey, particularly those in the genus Accipiter. The term is often applied to other birds in the Accipitridae family (incl. buzzards, harriers, and kites) and sometimes to certain falcons. Hawks usually eat small mammals, reptiles, and insects but occasionally kill birds. There is often no difference in plumage between sexes. Hawks are found on the six major continents. Most nest in trees, but some nest on the ground or on cliffs. True hawks (accipiters) can usually be distinguished in flight by their long tails and short, rounded wings. They are exemplified by the 12-in (30-cm) sharp-shinned hawk (A. striatus), gray above with fine rusty barring below, found throughout much of the New World. See also goshawk, sparrow hawk.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 any of various diurnal birds of prey of the family Accipitridae, having a characteristic curved beak, rounded short wings, and a long tail. 2 Polit. a person who advocates an aggressive or warlike policy, esp. in foreign affairs. 3 a rapacious person. --v. 1 intr. hunt game with a hawk. 2 intr. (often foll. by at) & tr. attack, as a hawk does. 3 intr. (of a bird) hunt on the wing for food. Phrases and idioms: hawk-eyed keen-sighted. hawk moth any darting and hovering moth of the family Sphingidae, having narrow forewings and a stout body. hawk-nosed having an aquiline nose. Derivatives: hawkish adj. hawkishness n. hawklike adj. Etymology: OE h(e)afoc, hæbuc f. Gmc 2. v.tr. 1 carry about or offer around (goods) for sale. 2 (often foll. by about) relate (news, gossip, etc.) freely. Etymology: back-form. f. HAWKER(1) 3. v. 1 intr. clear the throat noisily. 2 tr. (foll. by up) bring (phlegm etc.) up from the throat. Etymology: prob. imit. 4. n. a plasterer's square board with a handle underneath for carrying plaster or mortar. Etymology: 17th c.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Singing Sing"ing, a. & n. from Sing, v. Singing bird. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Popularly, any bird that sings; a song bird. (b) Specifically, any one of the Oscines. Singing book, a book containing music for singing; a book of tunes. Singing falcon or hawk. (Zo["o]l.) See Chanting falcon, under Chanting. Singing fish (Zo["o]l.), a California toadfish (Porichthys porosissimus). Singing flame (Acoustics), a flame, as of hydrogen or coal gas, burning within a tube and so adjusted as to set the air within the tube in vibration, causing sound. The apparatus is called also chemical harmonicon. Singing master, a man who teaches vocal music. Singing school, a school in which persons are instructed in singing.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hawk Hawk, n. [OE. hauk (prob. fr. Icel.), havek, AS. hafoc, heafoc; akin to D. havik, OHG. habuh, G. habicht, Icel. haukr, Sw. h["o]k, Dan. h["o]g, prob. from the root of E. heave.] (Zo["o]l.) One of numerous species and genera of rapacious birds of the family Falconid[ae]. They differ from the true falcons in lacking the prominent tooth and notch of the bill, and in having shorter and less pointed wings. Many are of large size and grade into the eagles. Some, as the goshawk, were formerly trained like falcons. In a more general sense the word is not infrequently applied, also, to true falcons, as the sparrow hawk, pigeon hawk, duck hawk, and prairie hawk. Note: Among the common American species are the red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis); the red-shouldered (B. lineatus); the broad-winged (B. Pennsylvanicus); the rough-legged (Archibuteo lagopus); the sharp-shinned Accipiter fuscus). See Fishhawk, Goshawk, Marsh hawk, under Marsh, Night hawk, under Night. Bee hawk (Zo["o]l.), the honey buzzard. Eagle hawk. See under Eagle. Hawk eagle (Zo["o]l.), an Asiatic bird of the genus Spiz[ae]tus, or Limn[ae]tus, intermediate between the hawks and eagles. There are several species. Hawk fly (Zo["o]l.), a voracious fly of the family Asilid[ae]. See Hornet fly, under Hornet. Hawk moth. (Zo["o]l.) See Hawk moth, in the Vocabulary. Hawk owl. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A northern owl (Surnia ulula) of Europe and America. It flies by day, and in some respects resembles the hawks. (b) An owl of India (Ninox scutellatus). Hawk's bill (Horology), the pawl for the rack, in the striking mechanism of a clock.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hawk Hawk, n. (Masonry) A small board, with a handle on the under side, to hold mortar. Hawk boy, an attendant on a plasterer to supply him with mortar.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hawk Hawk, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Hawked; p. pr. & vb. n. Hawking.] 1. To catch, or attempt to catch, birds by means of hawks trained for the purpose, and let loose on the prey; to practice falconry. A falconer Henry is, when Emma hawks. --Prior. 2. To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk; -- generally with at; as, to hawk at flies. --Dryden. A falcon, towering in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hawk Hawk, v. i. [W. hochi.] To clear the throat with an audible sound by forcing an expiratory current of air through the narrow passage between the depressed soft palate and the root of the tongue, thus aiding in the removal of foreign substances.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hawk Hawk, v. t. To raise by hawking, as phlegm.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hawk Hawk, n. [W. hoch.] An effort to force up phlegm from the throat, accompanied with noise.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hawk Hawk, v. t. [Akin to D. hauker a hawker, G. h["o]ken, h["o]cken, to higgle, to retail, h["o]ke, h["o]ker, a higgler, huckster. See Huckster.] To offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle; as, to hawk goods or pamphlets. His works were hawked in every street. --Swift.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(hawks, hawking, hawked) 1. A hawk is a large bird with a short, hooked beak, sharp claws, and very good eyesight. Hawks catch and eat small birds and animals. N-COUNT 2. In politics, if you refer to someone as a hawk, you mean that they believe in using force and violence to achieve something, rather than using more peaceful or diplomatic methods. Compare dove. Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. ? dove N-COUNT 3. If someone hawks goods, they sell them by walking through the streets or knocking at people's houses, and asking people to buy them. (OLD-FASHIONED) ...vendors hawking trinkets. = peddle VERB: V n 4. You can say that someone is hawking something if you do not like the forceful way in which they are asking people to buy it. Developers will be hawking cut-price flats and houses. VERB: V n [disapproval] 5. If you watch someone like a hawk, you observe them very carefully, usually to make sure that they do not make a mistake or do something you do not want them to do. PHRASE: V inflects

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. netz, a word expressive of strong and rapid flight, and hence appropriate to the hawk). It is an unclean bird (Lev. 11:16; Deut. 14:15). It is common in Syria and surrounding countries. The Hebrew word includes various species of Falconidae, with special reference perhaps to the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), the hobby (Hypotriorchis subbuteo), and the lesser kestrel (Tin, Cenchris). The kestrel remains all the year in Palestine, but some ten or twelve other species are all migrants from the south. Of those summer visitors to Palestine special mention may be made of the Falco sacer and the Falco lanarius. (See NIGHT-{HAWK}.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hok (nets; hierax, and glaux; Latin Accipiter nisus): A bird of prey of the genus accipiter. Large hawks were numerous in Palestine. The largest were 2 ft. long, have flat heads, hooked beaks, strong talons and eyes appearing the keenest and most comprehensive of any bird. They can sail the length or breadth of the Holy Land many times a day. It is a fact worth knowing that mist and clouds interfere with the vision of birds and they hide, and hungry and silent wait for fair weather, so you will see them sailing and soaring on clear days only. These large hawks and the glede are of eagle-like nature, nesting on Carmel and on the hills of Galilee, in large trees and on mountain crags. They flock near Beersheba, and live in untold numbers in the wilderness of the Dead Sea. They build a crude nest of sticks and twigs and carry most of the food alive to their young. Of course they were among the birds of prey that swarm over the fresh offal from slaughter and sacrifice. No bird steers with its tail in flight in a more pronounced manner than the hawk. These large birds are all-the-year residents, for which reason no doubt the people distinguished them from smaller families that migrated. They knew the kite that Isaiah mentioned in predicting the fall of Edom. With them the smaller, brighter-colored kestrels, that flocked over the rocky shores of the Dead Sea and over the ruins of deserted cities, seemed to be closest in appearance to the birds we include in the general term "falcon." Their ate mice, insects and small birds, but not carrion. The abomination lists of Le 11:16 and De 14:15 each include hawks in a general term and specify several species as unfit for food. Job 39:26 reads:

"Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth,

And stretcheth her wings toward the south?"

Aside from calling attention to the miraculous flight,, this might refer to migration, or to the wonderful soaring exhibitions of these birds.

See GLEDE; KITE; NIGHT HAWK; FALCON.

Gene Stratton-Porter

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Falcon. II. v. a. Cry, sell by outcry, carry about for sale.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Ware hawk; the word to look sharp, a bye-word when a bailiff passes. Hawk also signifies a sharper, in opposition to pigeon. See PIGEON. See WARE HAWK.

Moby Thesaurus

Argus, beat, cat, chase, chauvinist, course, dispense, dog, dribble, drive, drivel, drool, eagle, expectorate, falcon, ferret, flush, follow the hounds, fowl, go hunting, gun, hound, huckster, hunt, hunt down, jack, jacklight, jingo, jingoist, lynx, militarist, monger, peddle, prowl after, ride to hounds, run, salivate, shikar, shoot, slabber, slaver, slobber, spew, spit, sport, stalk, start, still-hunt, track, trail, vend, war dog, war hawk, warmonger, weasel