n. [ Cf. ha an interjection of wonder, surprise, or hesitation. ] An intermission or hesitation of speech, with a sound somewhat like haw! also, the sound so made. “Hums or haws.” Congreve. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. To cause to turn, as a team, to the near side, or toward the driver;
To haw and gee,
To haw and gee about
v. i. To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw; to speak with interruption and hesitation. [ 1913 Webster ]
Cut it short; don't prose -- don't hum and haw. Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]
hemming and hawing
v. i.
To haw and gee,
To haw and gee about
n. [ OE. hawe, AS. haga; akin to D. haag headge, G. hag, hecke, Icel. hagi pasture, Sw. hage, Dan. have garden. √12. Cf. Haggard, Ha-ha, Haugh, Hedge. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
And eke there was a polecat in his haw. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] (Anat.) The third eyelid, or nictitating membrane. See
prop. a. Belonging to Hawaii or the Sandwich Islands, or to the people of Hawaii. --
n. Probably, the baked berry of the hawthorn tree, that is, coarse fare. See 1st Haw, 2. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Zool.) The common European grosbeak (Coccothraustes vulgaris); -- called also
v. i. [ Of imitative origin. ] To laugh boisterously. [ Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
We haw-haw'd, I tell you, for more than half an hour. Major Jack Downing. [ 1913 Webster ]