how

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
I know I need a dedicated website and I already have two great printing services that I use, but the how is the hard part.

View all »
Definitions (53)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (18)

  1. adverb In what manner or way; by what means: How does this machine work?
  2. adverb In what state or condition: How is she today?
  3. adverb To what extent, amount, or degree: How bad was it?

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (34)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • "No, no, dear, darling father; I'm so delighted, so delighted to see you again The Squire sat down on the sofa near Nora, and putting his arm round her, drew her pretty head to rest on his breast So you are staying in town," he said, "quite close to me; and how--how are the others, my dear Quite well," replied Nora "only fretting about you About me? —  Red Rose and Tiger Lily or, In a Wider World
  • "Mrs. Balcome,--how--how is mother You care a lot about your poor mother!" —  Apron-Strings
  • "You were tied to the track Yes, but Walter Clyde is an ingenious fellow, and he saw how to get around that difficulty But how--how Well, close beside the railroad was the stump of a great tree that had been cut down. —  Frank Merriwell's Bravery
  • And--how is the queen-mother's appetite But with a dignified little shrug, the princess disdains her brother's banter, and the merry prince goes on to say Well, I must use my ready bows and lances somewhere, and if not to right the wrongs of the fair Philippa against this frosty and crusty--pardon me, your Highness, this right noble King Erik of Denmark,--then against that other 'most dread and sovereign lord, Owen, Prince of Wales,' as he doth style himself. —  Historic Boys Their Endeavours, Their Achievements, and Their Times
  • It seemed like a hospital or institution That it was the former was quickly revealed, for a few moments after I had risen, a nursing-sister in a tri-winged linen head-dress appeared and spoke kindly to me, asking in French how I felt on that glorious morning I am quite all right," was my reply in French. —  The Stretton Street Affair
 

Tags

how hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 105 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (9)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English howe, from Old English ; see kwo- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (8)

  1. from Middle English how, hou, hough, hwow, hwou, hwu, wu, w, hu, North. quow, quhu, from Anglo-Saxon , how (interrogative and relative), = Old Saxon hwō = OFries. hū, hō, hoe = Dutch hoe, how; nearly identical with Anglo-Saxon hwy¯, hwī, hwig, for what, for what cause or reason, why: see why. Practically how is a doublet of why, differentiated in form and use.
  2. from how, adv.
  3. Also hough, hoe; from Middle English hogh (plural hoes for *hoʒes), a hill, from Icelandic haugr, a how, mound, = Swedish hög, a heap, pile, mound, = Danish höj, a hill, = Old High German houg, Middle High German houc (houg-), a hill (in modern G. proper names, as Donnershaugk), diminutive hügel, a hill; from Icelandic hār = Swedish hög = Danish höj = Old High German hōh, Middle High German G. hoch = Anglo-Saxon heáh, English high: see high, of which how is thus a derivative, through the Scandinavian; cf. German höhe, a height, and English height, in same sense.
  4. A dial. form of hole, a.
  5. from Middle English howen, hoʒen, from Anglo-Saxon hogian, think, care, mind, akin to hycgan, think.
  6. from Middle English howe, from Anglo-Saxon hogu, care, anxiety, from hogian, think, care: see how, v.
  7. from Middle English howe, from Anglo-Saxon hoga, careful, prudent, from hogu, care: see how, n.
  8. American Indian, also written phonetically (as in continental use) hau: a mere aspirated syllable, like ha, ho, q. v., perhaps in part an abbreviation of the common English greeting ‘How do you do?’
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/haʊ/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word many times a day.

Recently looked up

marsh-land · arching · tableaus · hot-shot · longform

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

be careful! the razor is razor-sharp! · minty-fresh death threat · please stop sucking the monkeybread · beauregard · unicycle hockey