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how

- 10 dictionary results

how

1  [hou]
Use how in a Sentence
–adverb
1. in what way or manner; by what means?: How did the accident happen?
2. to what extent, degree, etc.?: How damaged is the car?
3. in what state or condition?: How are you?
4. for what reason; why?: How can you talk such nonsense?
5. to what effect; with what meaning?: How is one to interpret his action?
6. what?: How do you mean? If they don't have vanilla, how about chocolate?
7. (used as an intensifier): How seldom I go there!
8. by what title or name?: How does one address the president?
9. at what price: How are the new cars going, cheaper than last year's models?
10. by what amount or in what measure or quantity?: How do you sell these tomatoes?
11. in what form or shape?: How does the demon appear in the first act of the opera? How does the medication come?
–conjunction
12. the manner or way in which: He couldn't figure out how to solve the problem.
13. about the manner, condition, or way in which: I don't care how you leave your desk when you go. Be careful how you act.
14. in whatever manner or way; however: You can travel how you please.
15. Informal. that: He told us how he was honest and could be trusted.
–noun
16. a question concerning the way or manner in which something is done, achieved, etc.: a child's unending whys and hows.
17. a way or manner of doing something: to consider all the hows and wherefores.
18. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter H.
—Idioms
19. and how! Informal. certainly! you bet!: Am I happy? And how!
20. Here's how, Informal. (used as a toast).
21. how come? Informal. how is it that? why?: How come you never visit us anymore?
22. how so? how does it happen to be so? why?: You haven't any desire to go? How so?
Origin:
bef. 900; ME how, hu, OE hū; c. OFris hū, ho, D hoe; akin to G wie (OHG hweo), Goth hwaiwa

how

2  [hou]
–interjection Facetious.
(used as a greeting in imitation of American Indian speech.)
Origin:
1810–20; of uncert. orig.

how

3  [hou]
–noun, adjective Scot. and North England.
howe.

howe

  [hou] Scot. and North England
–noun
1. a hole.
2. the hold of a ship.
3. a hollow; dell.
–adjective
4. hollow.
5. deep.
Also, how.

Origin:
1325–75; ME (north and Scots), alter. of holl; see hollow
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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how   (hou)   
adv.  
  1. In what manner or way; by what means: How does this machine work?
  2. In what state or condition: How is she today?
  3. To what extent, amount, or degree: How bad was it?
  4. For what reason or purpose; why: How is it that he left early?
  5. With what meaning: How should I take that remark?
  6. By what name: How is she called?
  7. By what measure; in what units: How do you sell this corn?
  8. What. Usually used in requesting that something be said again: How's that again?
  9. Used as an intensive: How we laughed!
conj.  
  1. The manner or way in which: forgot how it was done.
  2. That.
  3. In whatever way or manner; however: Cook it how you please.
n.  A manner or method of doing something: "The how of research is generated by the why of the world" (Frederick Turner).

[Middle English howe, from Old English hū; see kwo- in Indo-European roots.]
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

How

How\, adv. [OE. how, hou, hu, hwu, AS. h?, from the same root as hw[=a], hw[ae]t, who, what, pron. interrog.; akin to OS. hw[=o]w, D. hoe, cf. G. wie how, Goth. hw[=e] wherewith, hwaiwa how. [root]182. See Who, and cf. Why.]

1. In what manner or way; by what means or process.

How can a man be born when he is old? --John iii. 4.

2. To what degree or extent, number or amount; in what proportion; by what measure or quality.

O, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. --Ps. cxix. 97.

By how much they would diminish the present extent of the sea, so much they would impair the fertility, and fountains, and rivers of the earth. --Bentley.

3. For what reason; from what cause.

How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale? --Shak.

4. In what state, condition, or plight.

How, and with what reproach, shall I return? --Dryden.

5. By what name, designation, or title.

How art thou called? --Shak.

6. At what price; how dear. [Obs.]

How a score of ewes now? --Shak.

Note: How is used in each sense, interrogatively, interjectionally, and relatively; it is also often employed to emphasize an interrogation or exclamation. "How are the mighty fallen!" --2 Sam. i. 27. Sometimes, also, it is used as a noun; -- as, the how, the when, the wherefore. --Shelley.

Let me beg you -- don't say "How?" for "What?" --Holmes.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : how
Spanish: cómo,
German: wie,
Japanese: どのようにして
More Translations »

how  (adv.)
O.E. hu, from W.Gmc. *khwo- (cf. O.S. hwo, O.Fris., M.Du. hu, Du. hoe, Ger. wie, Goth. hvaiwa "how"), from common PIE interrogative pronomial stem. However is M.E.; how come? for "why?" is recorded from 1848. And how! emphatic, first recorded 1865, said to be a Ger.-Amer. colloquialism.

how  (interj.)
Native American greeting, Siouxan (cf. Dakota hao, Omaha hau); first recorded 1817 in Eng, but noted early 17c. by Fr. missionary Jean de Brebeuf among Hurons as an expression of approval (1636).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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how

In addition to the idioms beginning with how, also see and how.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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HOW
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The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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