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hawking

- 10 dictionary results

hawk⋅ing

  [haw-king]
Use hawking in a Sentence
–noun
the sport of hunting with hawks or other birds of prey; falconry.
Origin:
1300–50; ME; see hawk 1 , -ing 1

Haw⋅king

  [haw-king]
–noun
Stephen William, born 1942, English mathematician and theoretical physicist.

hawk

1  [hawk]
–noun
1. any of numerous birds of prey of the family Accipitridae, having a short, hooked beak, broad wings, and curved talons, often seen circling or swooping at low altitudes.
2. any of several similar, unrelated birds, as the nighthawk.
3. Informal. a person who preys on others, as a sharper.
4. Also called war hawk. Informal. a person, esp. one in public office, who advocates war or a belligerent national attitude. Compare dove (def. 5).
5. any person who pursues an aggressive policy in business, government, etc.: The corporation is now run by a bunch of young hawks.
–verb (used without object)
6. to fly, or hunt on the wing, like a hawk.
7. to hunt with hawks.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME hauk(e), OE hafoc; c. OFris havek, OS habuc OHG habuh, ON haukr hawk, perh. Pol kobuz kind of falcon

Related forms:
hawklike, adjective

hawk

2  [hawk]
–verb (used with object)
1. to peddle or offer for sale by calling aloud in public.
2. to advertise or offer for sale: to hawk soap on television.
3. to spread (rumors, news, etc.).
–verb (used without object)
4. to carry wares about for sale; peddle.
Origin:
1470–80; back formation from hawker 2

hawk

3  [hawk]
–verb (used without object)
1. to make an effort to raise phlegm from the throat; clear the throat noisily.
–verb (used with object)
2. to raise by hawking: to hawk phlegm up.
–noun
3. a noisy effort to clear the throat.
Origin:
1575–85; imit.; see haw 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hawking
hawk 1   (hôk)   
n.  
  1. Any of various birds of prey of the order Falconiformes and especially of the genera Accipiter and Buteo, characteristically having a short hooked bill and strong claws adapted for seizing.
  2. Any of various similar birds of prey.
  3. A person who preys on others; a shark.
    1. One who demonstrates an actively aggressive or combative attitude, as in an argument.
    2. A person who favors military force or action in order to carry out foreign policy.
intr.v.   hawked, hawk·ing, hawks
  1. To hunt with trained hawks.
  2. To swoop and strike in the manner of a hawk: "It was fun to watch the scattered snail kites . . . lifting and falling in the wind as they hawked across the shining grass and water" (Peter Matthiessen).

[Middle English hauk, from Old English hafoc; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]
hawk'ish adj., hawk'ish·ly adv., hawk'ish·ness n.
hawk 2   (hôk)   
v.   hawked, hawk·ing, hawks

v.   intr.
To peddle goods aggressively, especially by calling out.
v.   tr.
To peddle (goods) aggressively, especially by calling out.

[Middle English hauken, back-formation from hauker; see hawker.]
hawk 3   (hôk)   
v.   hawked, hawk·ing, hawks

v.   intr.
To clear or attempt to clear the throat by or as if by coughing up phlegm.
v.   tr.
To clear the throat of (phlegm).
n.  An audible effort to clear the throat by expelling phlegm.

[Imitative.]
Haw·king   (hô'kĭng)   
British theoretical physicist noted for his research into the origin of the universe. His work influenced the development of the big bang and black hole theories.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Hawking   (hô'kĭng)  Pronunciation Key 
British physicist noted for his study of black holes and the origin of the universe, especially the big bang theory. His work has provided much of the mathematical basis for scientific explanations of the physical properties of black holes.

Our Living Language  : The world-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking needs little introduction to those familiar with the bespectacled man who uses a wheelchair and lectures around the world with the aid of a computerized speech synthesizer. The condition that has left him all but totally paralyzed, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is usually fatal within a few years; but Hawking has beaten the odds by living with the disease for all his adult life, since its onset when he was a 20-year-old college student. Hawking's story is a testament to a determined person's ability to overcome unexpected adversity—his career in fact did not take off until after the disease had been diagnosed. Hawking partly credits the disease for giving him a sense of purpose and the ability to enjoy life. His academic position at Oxford is a chaired professorship in mathematics that was also held by Isaac Newton, in 1669. He originally set out to study mathematics, but it is for his discoveries in physics that he is best known. With his collaborator Roger Penrose, he theorized that Einstein's Theory of General Relativity predicts that space and time have a definite origin and conclusion, providing mathematical support for the Big Bang theory. This led to further attempts to unify General Relativity with quantum theory, one consequence of which is the intriguing view that black holes are not entirely "black," as originally thought, but emit radiation and should eventually evaporate and disappear.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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