H

Question 1

haiku

Answer 1

a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.
• an English imitation of this.

Question 2

hansom

Answer 2

a two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage accommodating two inside, with the driver seated behind.

Question 3

harbinger

Answer 3

a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another: witch hazels are the harbingers of spring.
• a forerunner of something: these works were not yet opera, but they were the most important harbinger of opera.

Question 4

harp

Answer 4

a musical instrument, roughly triangular in shape, consisting of a frame supporting a graduated series of parallel strings, played by plucking with the fingers. The modern orchestral harp has an upright frame, with pedals that enable the strings to be retuned to different keys.
harp 1
2 another term for harmonica: Papa had been teaching him to play the blues harp.

Question 5

harrier

Answer 5

a person who engages in persistent attacks on others or incursions into their land.

a hound of a breed used for hunting hares.
• a cross-country runner.

a long-winged, slender-bodied bird of prey with low quartering flight.

Question 6

hazel

Answer 6

a temperate shrub or small tree with broad leaves, bearing prominent male catkins in spring and round hard-shelled edible nuts in autumn.

a reddish-brown or greenish-brown color, esp. of someone’s eyes.

Question 7

heathen

Answer 7

a person who does not belong to a widely held religion (esp. one who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim) as regarded by those who do.

a follower of a polytheistic religion; a pagan.

Question 8

hector

Answer 8

talk to (someone) in a bullying way

a Trojan warrior, son of Priam and Hecuba and husband of Andromache

Question 9

heighten

Answer 9

make (something) higher.

make or become more intense

Question 10

heinous

Answer 10

wicked

Question 11

heir presumptive

Answer 11

an heir whose claim could be set aside by the birth of another heir.

Question 12

hellenistic

Answer 12

of or relating to Greek history, language, and culture from the death of Alexander the Great to the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony by Octavian in 31 bc.

Question 13

herald

Answer 13

an official messenger bringing news.

a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen: they considered the first primroses as the herald of spring.

Question 14

herculean

Answer 14

requiring great strength or effort: a Herculean task.

(of a person) muscular and strong.

Question 15

high-flown

Answer 15

(esp. of language or ideas) extravagant and lofty.

Question 16

hinterland

Answer 16

the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river.

an area surrounding a town or port and served by it: the city had grown prosperous by exploiting its local western hinterland.

an area lying beyond what is visible or known: in the hinterland of his mind these things rose, dark and ominous.

Question 17

hoist

Answer 17

raise (something) by means of ropes and pulleys: high overhead great cranes hoisted girders.
• raise or haul up: she hoisted her backpack onto her shoulder.

Question 18

homonym

Answer 18

each of two or more words having the same spelling but different meanings and origins (e.g., pole1 and pole2); a homograph.
• each of two words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling (e.g., to , too, and two); a homophone.

Question 19

hone

Answer 19

sharpen with a whetstone.

• (usu. be honed) make sharper or more focused or efficient: their appetites were honed by fresh air and exercise.

Question 20

honorarium

Answer 20

a payment given for professional services that are rendered nominally without charge.

Question 21

hoodwink

Answer 21

deceive or trick (someone): an attempt to hoodwink the public.

Question 22

hors d’oeuvre

Answer 22

a small savory dish, typically one served as an appetizer at the beginning of a meal.

Question 23

horticulturist

Answer 23

the person with skills and knowledge of garden cultivation and management.

Question 24

hot button

Answer 24

a topic or issue that is highly charged emotionally or politically: the hot-button issue of nuclear waste disposal.

Question 25

hubbub

Answer 25

a chaotic din caused by a crowd of people: a hubbub of laughter and shouting.
• a busy, noisy situation: she fought through the hubbub.

Question 26

huggermugger

Answer 26

adjective
1 confused; disorderly
2 secret; clandestine.

noun
1 confusion; muddle.
2 secrecy.

Question 27

hype

Answer 27

noun
extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion: she relied on hype and headlines to stoke up interest in her music.
• a deception carried out for the sake of publicity.

verb
promote or publicize (a product or idea) intensively, often exaggerating its importance or benefits: an industry quick to hype its products.

Question 28

hyperbole

Answer 28

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Question 29

hypothermia

Answer 29

the condition of having an abnormally low body temperature, typically one that is dangerously low.