A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words / Used at the Present Day in the Streets of London; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the Houses of Parliament; the Dens of St. Giles; and the Palaces of St. James.

by John Camden Hotten

HAWSE HOLES, the apertures in a ship’s bows through which the cables pass; “he has crept in through the HAWSE-HOLES,” said of an officer who has risen from the grade of an ordinary seaman.—Navy.

HAY BAG, a woman.

HAZY, intoxicated.—Household Words, No. 183.

HEAD OR TAIL, “I can’t make HEAD OR TAIL of it,” i.e., cannot make it out.

HEAP, “a HEAP of people,” a crowd; “struck all of a HEAP,” suddenly astonished.

HEAVY WET, porter or beer,—because the more a man drinks of it, the heavier he becomes.

HEDGE, to secure a doubtful bet by making others.—Turf.

HEEL-TAPS, small quantities of wine or other beverage left in the bottom of glasses, considered as a sign that the liquor is not liked, and therefore unfriendly and unsocial to the host and the company.

HEIGH HO! a cant term for stolen yarn, from the expression used to apprize the dishonest manufacturer that the speaker has stolen yarn to sell.—Norwich cant.

HELL, a fashionable gambling house. In printing offices, the term is generally applied to the old tin box in which is thrown the broken or spoilt type, purchased by the founders for re-casting. Nearly obsolete.