habeas corpus

• habeas
• corpus
• habeas corpus ad subjiciendum
• ad subjiciendum
• subjiciendum
• Great Writ
• Great
• Writ
• writ of habeas corpus

[HAY-bee-us-KOR-pus]
1. Any of several common-law writs issued to bring a party before a court or judge; especially: a writ for inquiring into the lawfulness of the restraint of a person who is imprisoned or detained in another's custody; a writ ordering a prisoner to be brought before a judge. Synonym: writ of habeas corpus
Example:
Sam's lawyers have filed a writ of habeas corpus to prove that his conviction was based on illegally obtained evidence.
2. The right of a citizen to obtain a writ of habeas corpus as a protection against illegal imprisonment.
Etymology:
"You should have the body." That's the literal meaning of the Latin "habeas corpus," but to anyone wrongfully imprisoned, it can mean a chance to correct a violation of personal liberty. In simplest terms, a writ of habeas corpus is an order commanding one who holds a person in custody to bring that individual before the court for some specific reason. The most common is "habeas corpus ad subjiciendum," also known as the Great Writ, by which an imprisoned person can challenge the legality of his or her custody before the court. Such orders were part of British legal systems at least as long ago as the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), and the right to habeas corpus was considered so fundamental that it was written into Article I of the United States Constitution.


habiliment

• habiliments

[huh-BILL-uh-munt]
1. (Plural) Characteristic apparatus.
Synonym: trappings.
2. a) the dress characteristic of an occupation or occasion (usually used in plural); b) clothes (usually used in plural).
Example:
His own figure, in spite of his mean habiliments, assumed an air of state and grandeur. (Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Blithedale Romance")
Etymology, more examples:
"Habiliment," from Middle French "abillement," is a bit old-fashioned and is best used to describe complex, multi-pieced outfits like those of medieval times. For instance, a full suit of armor - which might include a helmet, gorget, pallette, brassard, skirt of tasses, tuille, gauntlet, cuisse, jambeau, and solleret, along with other pieces and plates - can be considered the habiliments of a knight. Nowadays, "habiliment," which is usually used in its plural form, is most fitting for the dress of an occupation, such as the different vestments of a priest, or for clothes, such as elegant formal wear, worn on special occasions. When "habiliment" is used for plain old "clothes," it is more than likely for jocular or poetic effect.


hacker

• hack

Someone who breaks into computer systems or networks.
Example: Over the weekend, some hackers attacked MicroSofties's computer network.
Etymology, a related word, example:
'Hacker' comes from the word 'hack', which among computer programmers refers to a clever trick. So a 'hacker' is someone who can use tricks to get into secure computers. But the word 'hack' has another meaning, referring to someone who isn't very good at something. For example, a comedian who isn't very funny can be called a 'hack'.


hackneyed

• hackney
• trite

[HAK-need]
lacking in freshness or originality
Example:
Frank's early attempts at poetry were filled with singsong rhymes and hackneyed expressions.
Etymology, synonym:
"Hackney" entered the English language in the 14th century as a noun. Some think perhaps it came from "Hakeneye" (now "Hackney"), the name of a town (now a borough) in England. Others dispute this explanation, pointing to similar forms in other European languages. The noun "hackney", in any case, refers to a horse suitable for ordinary riding or driving - as opposed to one used as a draft animal or a war charger. When "hackney" was first used as a verb in the late 16th century, it often meant "to make common or frequent use of". Later, it meant "to make trite, vulgar, or commonplace". The adjective "hackneyed" began to be used in the 18th century and now is a common synonym for "trite".


haggard
[HAG-urd]
1. Of a hawk; not tamed.
2. Wild in appearance.
3. Having a worn or emaciated appearance.
Synonym: gaunt
Example:
When Stacey saw Ed's haggard face and disheveled appearance, she knew something must be terribly wrong.
Etymology:
"Haggard" comes from falconry, the sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. The birds used in falconry were not bred in captivity until very recently. Traditionally, falconers trained wild birds that were either taken from the nest when quite young or trapped as adults. A bird trapped as an adult is termed a "haggard," from the Middle French "hagard." Such a bird is notoriously wild and difficult to train, and it wasn't long before the falconry sense of "haggard" was being applied in an extended way to a "wild" and intractable person. Next, the word came to express the way the human face looks when a person is exhausted, anxious, or terrified. Today, the most common meaning of "haggard" is "gaunt" or "worn."


hagiography
1. Biography of saints or venerated persons.
2. Idealizing or idolizing biography.
Examples:
1) In Elvis hagiography, Presley's 'C' in music is like Einstein's flunking math. (Scott Spencer, "The Nation", December 5, 1994)
2) She fit a type easily recognized in the annals of hagiography, and it was on that basis that claims for sainthood were made. (Lawrence S. Cunningham, "The Voices of Gemma Galgani," Commonweal, June 6, 2003)
3) Pearce seems to believe he needs to show us that the man was something like a saint. This turns his book into something like hagiography. (Francis Beckett, "G K and A K," New Statesman, February 28, 1997)
4) It is by no means a hagiography - he is alert to, and unsparing of, Bellow's many failings as a man, a friend, a husband and a father. (Robert Winder, "The slave of unknown masters," New Statesman, October 23, 2000)
Etymology:
Like "biography" and "autograph", the word "hagiography" has to do with the written word. The combining form "-graphy" comes from Greek "-graphia", from "graphein", meaning "to write". "Hagio-" comes from a Greek word "hagios" that means "saintly" or "holy". This origin is seen in "Hagiographa", the Greek designation of the "Ketuvim", the third division of the Hebrew Bible. The English word "hagiography", though it can refer to biography of actual saints, is these days more often applied to biography that treats ordinary human subjects as if they were saints.


hak
(SMS) hugs and kisses


halcyon
[HAL-see-uhn]
noun:
1. A kingfisher.
2. A mythical bird, identified with the kingfisher, that was fabled to nest at sea about the time of the winter solstice and to calm the waves during incubation.
adjective:
3. Calm; quiet; peaceful; undisturbed; happy; as, "deep, halcyon repose."
4. Marked by peace and prosperity; as, "halcyon years."
Examples:
1) It seems to be that my boyhood days in the Edwardian era were halcyon days. (Mel Gussow, "At Home With John Gielgud: His Own Brideshead, His Fifth 'Lear,'" New York Times, October 28, 1993)
2) It is a common lament that children today grow up too fast, that society is conspiring to deprive them of the halcyon childhood they deserve. (Keith Bradsher, "Fear of Crime Trumps the Fear of Lost Youth," New York Times, November 21, 1999)
3) It was a halcyon life, cocktails and bridge at sunset, white jackets and long gowns at dinner, good gin and Gershwin under the stars. (Elizabeth M. Norman, "We Band of Angels")
Etymology:
"Halcyon" derives from Latin "(h)alcyon", from Greek "halkuon" ("a mythical bird, kingfisher").


hale

• hale and hearty
• hearty
• fit
• healthy
• robust
• sound
• well

[HAYL]
Free from disease and weakening conditions.
Synonyms: fit, healthy, robust, sound, well.
Examples:
1) Uncle Charles was a hale old man with a well tanned skin, rugged features and white side whiskers. (James Joyce, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man")
2) The person whom the traveller had so abruptly encountered was of this kind: bluff, hale, hearty, and in a green old age: at peace with himself, and evidently disposed to be so with all the world. (Charles Dickens, "Barnaby Rudge")
3) Joseph was an elderly, nay, an old man: very old, perhaps, though hale and sinewy. (Emily Bront?, "Wuthering Heights")
4) With his florid cheek, his compact figure smartly arrayed in a bright-buttoned blue coat, his brisk and vigorous step, and his hale and hearty aspect, altogether he seemed - not young, indeed - but a kind of new contrivance of Mother Nature in the shape of man, whom age and infirmity had no business to touch. (Nathanial Hawthorne, "The Scarlet Letter")
5) Does not everyone, including the hale and hearty, have the right to choose the timing and manner of their own death? ("Let death be my dominion," The Economist, October 14, 1999)
Etymology, related phrase:
"Hale" comes from Middle English "hal", related to whole. The alliterative phrase "hale and hearty" is often applied to older persons who retain the health and vigor of youth.


hallmark
[HAWL-mark]
1. a mark or device placed or stamped on an article of trade to indicate origin, purity, or genuineness
2. a distinguishing characteristic, trait, or feature
Example:
Even when he was in Little League, it was clear that Dave had all the hallmarks of a great baseball player.
History:
Centuries ago, King Edward I of England decreed that gold and silver had to be tested and approved by master craftsmen before being sold. Later, London artisans were required to bring finished metal goods to Goldsmith's Hall to be checked, and if those items met the quality standards of the craft-masters there, they would be marked with a special stamp of approval. (The process is much the same today.) At first, people used "hallmark" to name that mark of excellence from Goldsmith's Hall, but over the years the word came to refer to any mark guaranteeing purity or genuineness, and eventually to name any sign of outstanding talent, creativity, or excellence.


hand-me-down

• hand down
• hand
• hand-me-up
• hand up

1. (Noun) Something that an older person gives to a younger person because they no longer use it or they have something better to replace it; clothing or any other article passed down from sibling to sibling; something given away after another person doesn`t need it (especially clothing).
2. (Adjective) Being given by an older person to a younger person because they no longer use it or they have something better to replace it; being passed down from sibling to sibling; being given away after another person doesn`t need it. 3. (Verb) To give to a younger person a thing that they no longer use it or they have something better to replace it; to give away after another person doesn`t need it.
Examples:
1) She was very poor when she was a child and always wore hand-me-down clothing.
2) The beggar said he was not too proud to wear hand-me-down shoes.
Antonym: hand-me-up

hand-me-up

• hand up
• hand
• hand-me-down
• hand down

1. (Noun) Something that a younger person gives to an older person because they no longer use it or they have something better to replace it.
2. (Adjective) Being given by a younger person to an older person because they no longer use it or they have something better to replace it. 3. (Verb) To give to an older person a thing that they no longer use it or they have something better to replace it.
Examples: 1) And more and more older users are joining the throng as PC prices fall and adult children give "hand-me-up" computers to mom and dad & (BusinessWeek <http://www.businessweek.com/1998/29/b3587018.htm>, 9th July 1998) 2) My driver is a hand-me-up from my son but it"s still young, maybe 5 years old. (Golfweb.com <http://www.golfweb.com/u/ce/multi/0,1977,3572001,00.html>, 26th February 2001)
3) The belt was hand-me-upped to my very petite sister Rachel, who is six years older. History, antonyms, more examples: There is evidence for use of the term "hand-me-up" as far back as the 1980s, where it was originally associated with the idea of passing on articles of clothing from children to their parents or older members of their family. Just as younger children conventionally suffer the sometimes humiliating experience of wearing the hand-me-down (an antonym to "hand-me-up") clothes of their older siblings, often as an economy, in the same way parents have been incorporating their children"s clothes into their wardrobe to compensate for the wasteful habits of fashion-conscious teenagers. A father who is not so selective about fit or fashion wears the hand-me-up T-shirt of his son, declaring that it is "like new". A mother talks about her most fashionable outfit consisting of hand-me-ups from her oldest daughter. Current use of the term hand-me-up is not restricted to items of clothing however. In the context of the transient technological development of the last decade, where devices are continuously being re-cast with enhanced capacity and design, the idea of a hand-me-up has gained considerable ground. The mobile phone boom has been a major contributor to the hand-me-up phenomenon  parents are often the recipients of their children"s cast-off phones, and are being educated in how to use them by their children. Similarly, a common context is the acquisition of newer, sleeker and faster computing technology, e.g., "They got the Dell as a hand-me-up from my uncle when he upgraded his machine a couple of years ago".

hand-to-mouth existence

• hand-to-mouth
• existence
• hand
• mouth
• from-hand-to-mouth existence
• from-hand-to-mouth
• live from hand to mouth
• live
• live hand to mouth

To spend one's salary as fast as it's earned without saving any for the future.
Example:
He lives a hand-to-mouth existence doing odd jobs around town.
Synonyms:
from-hand-to-mouth existence; live from hand to mouth; live hand to mouth
Etymology:
Writers were using this saying in the 16th century. Imagine a starving person who is given food. If he could, he'd save some for later, but because he's so hungry, he gobbles it all down. Every morsel goes directly from his hands into his mouth. Today we say that a person lives a "hand-to-mouth" existence when he or she lives from day to day, spending every dollar earned without being able to put aside any savings for the future.

handle with kid gloves

• handle with
• kid gloves
• handle
• kid
• gloves
• glove

To be very careful handling someone or something; to treat very carefully and gently; to handle with great care and sensitivity.
Examples:
1) He is very sensitive so you have to handle him with kid gloves when you speak to him.
2) You have to handle the students with kid gloves.
3) When you're speaking to Courtney, handle the subject of summer vacation with kid gloves.
Etymology:
Kid gloves are made from the smooth hide of a young goat and are gentle to the touch. If you handle anything (like a fragile sculpture) or anybody (like your grumpy uncle) "with kid gloves", you're being careful and gentle. The last thing you want to do is break the sculpture or anger your uncle. You're making every attempt to avoid all possible problems.

handsel
1. a gift made as a token of good wishes or luck especially at the beginning of a new year
Example:
Aunt Mary gave New Year's handsels to all the children in the family.
2. something received first (as in a day of trading) and taken to be a token of good luck
3. a first installment
Synonym: earnest money
4. earnest, foretaste
Etymology:
According to an old custom in the British Isles, the first Monday of the new year is Handsel Monday, a day to give a small gift or good luck charm to children or to those who have served you well. As long ago as the year 1200, English speakers were using the ancestor of "handsel" for any good luck charm, especially one given at the start of some new situation or condition. By the 1500s, traders were using "handsel" for the first cash they earned in the morning - to them, an omen of good things to follow. Nowadays, it's likely to be used for the first use or experience of something, especially when such a use gives a taste of things to come.


handwavium
The word refers to a way of circumventing a problem by breaking the laws of physics, as if one might banish an insuperable objection by waving a hand at it. Bad science-fiction stories often employ handwavium to solve knotty problems.
Example:
Any writer who creates a faster-than-light space drive is employing handwavium.
NB: Be careful to distinguish between unobtanium and handwavium!


handwriting on the wall

• handwriting
• wall

1. A clear sign, omen, something that is an obvious symbol.
2. A sign that something bad will happen; a warning of danger or trouble.
Examples:
1) The handwriting is on the wall. Business conditions are bad so probably nobody will get a pay raise this year.
2) When the police questioned him, Phil saw the handwriting on the wall and confessed.
Etymology:
This idiom originated in the Old Testament of the Bible. The King of Babylonia had a vision in which he saw a mysterious message written on the palace wall, "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." Daniel was sent for to explain the meaning of the strange words. When he arrived, he told the king that it was a warning that his kingdom would be conquered. In time the prophecy came true.

hang by a thread

• hanging by a thread
• hang by
• thread
• hanging by
• hang
• hanging
• hang by a hair

1. To be precarious, insecure, loosely or barely held together, lacking basis;
2. To be in a precarious situation; to be in doubt; to depend on a very small thing to save smb.; to be at risk; to be in a dangerous or unsafe position.
Examples:
1) You are not quite failing, but you are hanging by a thread.
2) His life now hangs by a thread.
3) The outcome of the election hung by a thread until the last two or three hours.
Synonym: hang by a hair
Etymology:
There's a myth that tells of a king in the 5th century B.C. who grew tired of being told how wonderful he was by a flatterer named Damocles. The king threw a magnificent banquet of Damocles, who was having a grand time until he looked at the ceiling. He was shocked to see a large, sharp sword hanging by a single, thin hair, and pointing straight down at his head! He quickly learned his lesson: power and happiness are not secure, and usually depend on the will or favor of someone else. Today, when people are in risky situations, we say they're "hanging by a thread."



hang in there

• hang in
• hang
• there

To continue (without giving up), persevere, be patient, keep on; not to lose faith or courage.
Examples:
1) Hang in there until the doctor comes. He'll relieve your pain.
2) My brother kept calling, "Hang in there, you can do it!" And I did!
Etymology:
This American slang expression probably came from boxing. A fighter who's exhausted but doesn't want to give up might hang on the arms of his opponent or on the ropes around the ring. That way he'll stop getting punched and be able to rest for a few seconds so he can get himself back up and continue to fight. By using this expression, you don't actually have to be hanging on to something physically in order to make it through a tough situation or a difficult project.


hang out one's shingle

• hang out your shingle
• hang out
• hang
• shingle

To give public notice of the opening of an office etc.; to open a private office, especially a doctor's or lawyer's office, by putting up a sign over the door.
Examples:
1) After many years of training, she hung out her shingle "Nilda Sanchez, Animal Doctor.
2) The doctor decided to hang up his shingle as soon as he finished medical school.
Etymology:
In 19th-century America, when professional people opened private offices, they hung out signs that were often painted on a shingle, a thin piece of wood used to cover the roof or sides of a building. Today we use the phrase "hang out your shingle" to refer to the whole process of opening up your own office: renting the space, filling it with furniture, hiring help, and hanging up the sign that announces you're in business.

hangout