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An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race to the competitor possessing inferior advantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing superior advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success; as, the handicap was fi…

To usher in; to be a harbinger of. "Thus did the star of religious freedom harbinger the day." Bancroft.

Hare and hounds, a game played by men and boys, two, called hares, having a few minutes' start, and scattering bits of paper to indicate their course, being chased by the others, called the hounds, through a wide circuit. -- Hare kangaroo (Zoöl.)., a small Australian kangaroo (Lagorchestes Leporoides), resembling the…

ries used to incite and guide hounds in hunting. -- To hark back, to go back for a fresh start, as when one has wandered from his direct course, or made a digression. He must have overshot the mark, and must hark back. Haggard. He harked back to the subject. W. E. Norris.

To cause or force to go; to take. "The stars have us to bed." Herbert. "Have out all men from me." 2 Sam. xiii. 9.

The situation of the cables when a vessel is moored with two anchors, one on the starboard, the other on the port bow.

rth like a great arch or dome; the firmament; the sky; the place where the sun, moon, and stars appear; -- often used in the plural in this sense. I never saw the heavens so dim by day. Shak. When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven. D. Webster.

The condition of being high; elevated position. Behold the height of the stars, how high they are! Job xxii. 12.

sun; now employed for delicate measurements of the distance and relative direction of two stars too far apart to be easily measured in the field of view of an ordinary telescope.

ne. -- Helm aport, when the tiller is borne over to the port side of the ship. -- Helm astarboard, when the tiller is borne to the starboard side. -- Helm alee, Helm aweather, when the tiller is borne over to the lee or to the weather side. -- Helm hard alee or hard aport, hard astarboard, etc., when the tiller is…

ut definite purpose; irregularly. [Colloq.] Helter-skelter have I rode to thee. Shak. A wistaria vine running helter-skelter across the roof. J. C. Harris.

ling the true hemp. African hemp, Bowstring hemp. See under African, and Bowstring. -- Bastard hemp, the Asiatic herb Datisca cannabina. -- Canada hemp, a species of dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), the fiber of which was used by the Indians. -- Hemp agrimony, a coarse, composite herb of Europe (Eupatorium cannabinum)…

of philosophy began in Greece, and the philosophers, disagreeing amongst themselves, had started many questions . . . because every man took what opinion he pleased, each several opinion was called a heresy; which signified no more than a private opinion, without reference to truth or falsehood. Hobbes.…

Venus when she is the evening star; Hesper.

Elevated above any starting point of measurement, as a line, or surface; having altitude; lifted up; raised or extended in the direction of the zenith; lofty; tall; as, a high mountain, tower, tree; the sun is high.

Zoöl.), one of several species of birds of India, of the genus Gracula, and allied to the starlings. They are easily taught to speak many words. [Written also hill mynah.] See Myna. -- Hill partridge (Zoöl.), a partridge of the genus Aborophila, of which numerous species in habit Southern Asia and the East Indies. --…

To keep back or behind; to prevent from starting or moving forward; to check; to retard; to obstruct; to bring to a full stop; - - often followed by from; as, an accident hindered the coach; drought hinders the growth of plants; to hinder me from going. Them that were entering in ye hindered. Luke xi. 52. I hinder you…

apers are ready; formerly used also for its, but this use is now obsolete. No comfortable star did lend his light. Shak. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root Shak.

The home base; he started for home. At home.(a) At one's own house, or lodgings. (b) In one's own town or country; as, peace abroad and at home. (c) Prepared to receive callers. -- Home department, the department of executive administration, by which the internal affairs of a country are managed. [Eng.] To be at home…

onor. The reverend abbot . . . honorably received him. Shak. Why did I not more honorably starve Dryden.