Hose
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /həʊz/
- Rhymes: -əʊz
- US IPA: /hoÊŠz/
- Rhymes: -oÊŠz
- Homophones: hoes
Origin
From Middle English hose ("leggings, hose"), from Old English hose, hosa ("hose, leggings"), from Proto-Germanic *husÇ ("coverings, leggings, trousers") (compare West Frisian hoas 'hose', Dutch hoos 'stocking, water-hose', German Hose 'trousers'), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keu-s (compare Tocharian A kać 'skin', Russian кишка 'gut', Ancient Greek κÏστις 'bladder', Sanskrit कोषà¥à¤ (koá¹£á¹ha, "intestine"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keu- ("to cover"). More at sky.
Full definition of hose
Noun
hose
(countable and uncountable; plural hoses)- (countable) A flexible tube conveying water or other fluid.
- (uncountable) A stocking-like garment worn on the legs; pantyhose, women's tights.
- (obsolete) Close-fitting trousers or breeches, reaching to the knee.
- Bible, Daniel iii. 21These men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments.
- ShakespeareHis youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank.
Usage notes
(garment covering legs) Formerly a male garment covering the lower body, with the upper body covered by a doublet. By the 16th century hose had separated into two garments, stocken and breeches. Since the 1920's, hose refers mostly to women's stockings or pantyhose
Derived terms
Verb
- (transitive) To water or spray with a hose.
- 1995, Vivian Russell, Monet's Garden: Through the Seasons at Giverny, Only days before the garden opens, the concrete is hosed down with a high-pressure jet and scrubbed.
- (transitive) To provide with hose (garment)
- 1834, July to December, Pierce Pungent, Men and Manners, The mighty mass of many a mingled race,
Who dwell in towns where he pursued the chase;
The men degenerate shirted, cloaked, and hosed-
Nose and eyes only to the day exposed - (transitive) To attack and kill somebody, usually using a firearm.
- 2003, John R. Bruning, Jungle ace, His guns hosed down the vessel's decks, sweeping them clear of sailors, blowing holes in the bulkheads, and smashing gun positions.
- (transitive) To trick or deceive.
- 1995, Keath Fraser, Popular anatomy, Bartlett elaborated on what had happened at the warehouse, saying he thought Chandar was supposed to have advised, not hosed him.
- (transitive, computing) To break a computer so everything needs to be reinstalled; to wipe all files.
- 2006, Spring 2006, Joel Durham Jr., Pimp Out Win XP with TweakUI, There aren't any tricky hexadecimal calculations to snare your brain, nor is there a need to worry about hosing the registry for all eternity.