|
| habitat |
n. natural environment of an animal or a plant; home |
| habituate |
v. ~ sb/oneself to sth accustom sb/oneself to sth |
| hackles |
n. long feathers on the neck of the domestic cock, etc or hairs on the neck of a dog |
| hackneyed |
adj. used so often that it has become trite and dull |
| haggard |
adj. looking tired and unhappy, esp from worry, lack of sleep, etc |
| haggle |
v. ~ (over/about sth) argue (esp about the price, etc when agreeing upon the terms of a sale or other transaction) |
| hail |
n. frozen rain falling in a shower |
| halcyon |
adj. peaceful and happy |
| hale |
adj. hale and `hearty (esp of an old person) strong and healthy |
| halfhearted |
|
| hallowed |
set apart as sacred |
| hallucination |
n. illusion of seeing or hearing sth when no such thing is actually present |
| halting |
adj. slow and hesitant, as if lacking in confidence |
| hamper |
n. large basket with a hinged lid, esp one containing food, wine, etc |
| handsome |
adj. (of men) good-looking |
| hap |
chance; luck |
| haphazard |
adj. without plan or order; random |
| hapless |
adj. unlucky; unfortunate |
| harangue |
n. long, loud, serious and usu angry speech |
| harass |
v. trouble and annoy continually |
| harbinger |
n. ~ (rhet ) person or thing that announces or shows that sb/sth is coming |
| harbor |
to give shelter or refuge to |
| hardy |
adj. able to endure cold or difficult conditions; tough, robust |
| harping |
[ harp: ] a large triangular plucked stringed instrument consisting of a soundboard connected to an upright pillar by means of a curved crossbar from which the strings extend downwards. |
| harrow |
n. heavy frame with metal spikes or discs dragged over ploughed land to break up lumps of earth, cover seeds, etc |
| harrowing |
[ harrow: ] any of various implements used to level the ground, stir the soil, break up clods, destroy weeds, etc., in soil |
| harry |
v. annoy (sb) with repeated requests, questions, etc; harass |
| hatch |
n. opening in a door, floor or ceiling |
| haughtiness |
n. Pride; arrogance. |
| haunt |
v. visit (a place) regularly |
| haven |
n. place of safety or rest; refuge |
| havoc |
n. widespread damage; great destruction |
| hazard |
n. ~ (thing that can cause) danger; risk |
| hazardous |
adj. dangerous; risky |
| hazy |
adj. misty |
| headfirst |
with the head foremost; headlong |
| headlong |
adv, adj with the head first |
| headstrong |
adj. obstinately determined to do things in one's own way without listening to others; self-willed ; |
| healthful |
adj. good for the health |
| healthy |
adj. having good health; well and able to resist disease |
| heckler |
n. |
| hedonism |
n. belief that pleasure should be the main aim in life |
| hedonist |
n. believer in hedonism |
| heed |
v. pay attention to (advice, etc); take notice of (sth) |
| heedless |
not noticing; disregarding |
| hegemony |
n. leadership, esp by one state in a group of states |
| heinous |
adj. very wicked |
| helm |
n. handle or wheel for moving the rudder of a ship or boat |
| hem |
n. edge of a piece of cloth which has been turned under and sewn or fixed down |
| herald |
n. person who made important announcements and carried messages from a ruler |
| herbivorous |
adj. feeding on plants |
| herd |
n. number of animals, esp cattle, feeding or staying together |
| hereafter |
adv. (in legal documents, etc) from now on; following this , |
| heresy |
n. belief or opinion that is contrary to what is generally accepted, esp in religion |
| heretic |
n. person who is guilty of heresy or who supports a heresy |
| hermetic |
adj. tightly closed so that air cannot escape or enter; completely airtight ; |
| hermitage |
n. place where a hermit or a group of hermits lives |
| herpetologist |
one that a branch of zoology dealing with reptiles and amphibians |
| heterodox |
adj. not conforming with accepted standards or beliefs |
| heterogeneous |
adj. made up of different kinds; varied in composition |
| hew |
v. chop or cut (sth/sb) with an axe, sword, etc |
| heyday |
n. time of greatest success, prosperity, power, etc |
| hiatus |
n. gap in a series or sequence, making it incomplete; break in continuity ; |
| hibernal |
wintry |
| hibernate |
v. spend the winter in a state like deep sleep |
| hide |
v. prevent (sth/sb/oneself) from being seen; put or keep out of sight |
| hideous |
adj. filling the mind with horror; very ugly; frightful |
| hierarchy |
n. system with grades of authority or status from the lowest to the highest |
| hieroglyphic |
adj. of or written in hieroglyphs |
| high-flown |
adj. extravagantly grand and pretentious |
| hilarity |
n. loud laughter; great amusement |
| hindmost |
adj. furthest behind |
| hindrance |
n. ~ thing or person that hinders |
| hindsight |
n. wisdom about an event after it has occurred |
| hinterlands |
[ hinterland: ] land lying behind something, esp. a coast or the shore of a river |
| hireling |
n. person whose services may be hired |
| hirsute |
adj. (esp of a man) covered with hair; hairy; shaggy |
| historic |
adj. famous or important in history |
| historical |
adj. concerning past events |
| histrionic |
adj. very theatrical in manner; excessively dramatic; affected |
| hive |
n. (also `beehive) box or other container for bees to live in |
| hoard |
n. carefully collected and guarded store of money, food or other treasured objects |
| hoary |
adj. (also hoar) (esp of hair) grey or white with age |
| hoax |
n. mischievous trick played on sb for a joke |
| holocaust |
n. large-scale destruction, esp by fire; great loss of human life |
| holster |
n. leather case for a pistol, usu fixed to a belt or saddle . |
| homage |
n. things said or done to show great respect; tribute to a person or his qualities (used esp with the vs shown) |
| homely |
adj. (approv esp Brit) simple and plain |
| homeostasis |
tendency of a system to maintain relative stability |
| homespun |
adj. made of yarn spun at home |
| homily |
n. long and boring talk from sb on the correct way to behave, etc |
| homogeneous |
adj. formed of parts that are all of the same type |
| hone |
n. stone used for sharpening the cutting edges of tools, etc |
| hoodwink |
v. ~ sb deceive sb; trick sb |
| horde |
n. very large group (esp of people); huge crowd; throng |
| horoscope |
n. forecast of a person's future based on a diagram showing the relative positions of the planets, etc at a particular time, eg the time of his birth |
| hortatory |
encouraging; exhortative |
| horticultural |
adj. a horticultural show, society, expert |
| hostage |
n. person held as a captive by one or more others who threaten to keep, harm or kill him unless certain demands are met |
| hostility |
n. ~ being hostile (to sb/sth); antagonism; enmity |
| hothead |
n. person who often acts too hastily or rashly; impetuous person ; |
| hovel |
n. small house that is unfit to live in; very poor and squalid dwelling ; |
| hover |
v. remain in the air in one place |
| hubbub |
n. loud confused noise, eg of many voices; din ; |
| hubris |
n. arrogant pride |
| hue |
n. colour; variety or shade of colour |
| hull |
n. body of a ship |
| humane |
adj. having or showing sympathy, kindness and understanding |
| humanitarian |
adj. concerned with improving the lives of mankind and reducing suffering, esp by social reform |
| humble |
adj. (of a person or his words or actions) having or showing a low or modest opinion of one's own importance; not proud |
| humdrum |
adj. lacking excitement or variety; dull; monotonous |
| humid |
adj. containing moisture; damp |
| humility |
n. humble attitude of mind; modesty |
| hummock |
n. low hill or hump in the ground; hillock ; |
| humor |
to soothe or content by indulgence |
| humus |
n. rich dark organic material formed by the decay of dead leaves, etc and essential to the fertility of soil |
| hurl |
v. throw violently; fling |
| hurtle |
v. move violently, noisily or with great speed in the specified direction |
| husband |
n. man to whom a woman is married |
| husbandry |
n. farming |
| hut |
n. small roughly-built house or shelter, usu made of wood or metal , |
| hybrid |
n. animal or plant that has parents of different species or varieties |
| hydrophobia |
n. abnormal fear of water and of drinking, esp as a symptom of rabies in humans |
| hygiene |
n. study and practice of cleanliness as a way of maintaining good health and preventing disease |
| hyperbole |
n. exaggeratedstatement that is made for special effect and is not meant to be taken literally, eg I've invited millions of people to my party , |
| hypercritical |
adj. too critical, esp of small faults |
| hypnosis |
n. state like deep sleep in which a person's actions may be controlled by another person |
| hypochondriac |
n. person who suffers from hypochondria |
| hypocritical |
adj. of hypocrisy or a hypocrite |
| hypothetical |
adj. of or based on a hypothesis; not necessarily true or real ; |
| hysteria |
n. wild uncontrollable emotion or excitement, with eg laughter, crying or screaming |
