See hem and haw in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for hem and haw meaning in English (3.8kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "hem"
},
"expansion": "hem",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "haw"
},
"expansion": "haw",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "hem + and + haw",
"forms": [
{
"form": "hems and haws",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hemming and hawing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hemmed and hawed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hemmed and hawed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "hem<> and haw<>"
},
"expansion": "hem and haw (third-person singular simple present hems and haws, present participle hemming and hawing, simple past and past participle hemmed and hawed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "75 25",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English coordinated pairs",
"parents": [
"Coordinated pairs",
"Terms by etymology"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "71 29",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "If you hem and haw long enough, someone else will do it first.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind."
],
"id": "en-hem_and_haw-en-verb-ui0LRTnf",
"links": [
[
"discuss",
"discuss"
],
[
"deliberate",
"deliberate"
],
[
"contemplate",
"contemplate"
],
[
"action",
"action"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, US) To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind."
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "75 25",
"word": "ahem"
},
{
"_dis1": "75 25",
"word": "beat around the bush"
},
{
"_dis1": "75 25",
"word": "clear one's throat"
},
{
"_dis1": "75 25",
"word": "pussyfoot"
},
{
"_dis1": "75 25",
"word": "stall for time"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "75 25",
"tags": [
"dated"
],
"word": "hem and hah"
}
],
"tags": [
"US",
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to contemplate rather than taking action",
"word": "soutaa ja huovata"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to contemplate rather than taking action",
"word": "jahkailla"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1903, The People of the Abyss, by Jack London, Chapter 1",
"text": "The man at the Chief Office hemmed and hawed. 'We make it a rule,' he explained, 'to give no information concerning our clients.' 'But in this case,' I urged, 'it is the client who requests you to give the information concerning himself.' Again he hemmed and hawed."
},
{
"ref": "1959 July 15, Walt Kelly, Pogo (comic strip), page 58",
"text": "[Pogo:] How can you provide [someone] with scripts what tells him what to say all day long? […] / [Howland Owl:] It's a boon to humanity … How many dolts do you know who hems an' haws their way thru life? – I gives 'em talk.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To mumble and procrastinate in one's speech, especially with a reply to a hard question or with voicing a decision on a topical matter; to evade a question, giving vague answers; to equivocate or temporize."
],
"id": "en-hem_and_haw-en-verb-PAV1EBz8",
"links": [
[
"mumble",
"mumble#Verb"
],
[
"procrastinate",
"procrastinate"
],
[
"speech",
"speech#Noun"
],
[
"topical",
"topical"
],
[
"equivocate",
"equivocate"
],
[
"temporize",
"temporize"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"Britain",
"archaic",
"dialectal"
],
"word": "hacker"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-us-hem_and_haw.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/af/En-us-hem_and_haw.ogg/En-us-hem_and_haw.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/En-us-hem_and_haw.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"word": "hem and haw"
}
{
"categories": [
"English alliterative phrases",
"English coordinated pairs",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "hem"
},
"expansion": "hem",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "haw"
},
"expansion": "haw",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "hem + and + haw",
"forms": [
{
"form": "hems and haws",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hemming and hawing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hemmed and hawed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hemmed and hawed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "hem<> and haw<>"
},
"expansion": "hem and haw (third-person singular simple present hems and haws, present participle hemming and hawing, simple past and past participle hemmed and hawed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "ahem"
},
{
"word": "beat around the bush"
},
{
"word": "clear one's throat"
},
{
"word": "pussyfoot"
},
{
"word": "stall for time"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English idioms",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "If you hem and haw long enough, someone else will do it first.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind."
],
"links": [
[
"discuss",
"discuss"
],
[
"deliberate",
"deliberate"
],
[
"contemplate",
"contemplate"
],
[
"action",
"action"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, US) To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1903, The People of the Abyss, by Jack London, Chapter 1",
"text": "The man at the Chief Office hemmed and hawed. 'We make it a rule,' he explained, 'to give no information concerning our clients.' 'But in this case,' I urged, 'it is the client who requests you to give the information concerning himself.' Again he hemmed and hawed."
},
{
"ref": "1959 July 15, Walt Kelly, Pogo (comic strip), page 58",
"text": "[Pogo:] How can you provide [someone] with scripts what tells him what to say all day long? […] / [Howland Owl:] It's a boon to humanity … How many dolts do you know who hems an' haws their way thru life? – I gives 'em talk.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To mumble and procrastinate in one's speech, especially with a reply to a hard question or with voicing a decision on a topical matter; to evade a question, giving vague answers; to equivocate or temporize."
],
"links": [
[
"mumble",
"mumble#Verb"
],
[
"procrastinate",
"procrastinate"
],
[
"speech",
"speech#Noun"
],
[
"topical",
"topical"
],
[
"equivocate",
"equivocate"
],
[
"temporize",
"temporize"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"Britain",
"archaic",
"dialectal"
],
"word": "hacker"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-us-hem_and_haw.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/af/En-us-hem_and_haw.ogg/En-us-hem_and_haw.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/En-us-hem_and_haw.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"dated"
],
"word": "hem and hah"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to contemplate rather than taking action",
"word": "soutaa ja huovata"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to contemplate rather than taking action",
"word": "jahkailla"
}
],
"word": "hem and haw"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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