Haik. A large piece of woolen or cotton cloth worn by the Arabs over the tunic, being itself covered in foul weather by the burnoose. This word is also written hyke.
Hail. To accost; to call; to salute. A sentinel hails any one approaching his post with, “Who comes there?”
Hail-shot. Grape-shot.
Hainburg. A town of Austria, on the Danube, 28 miles southeast from Vienna. The Magyars, or Hungarians, gained a great victory here over the Germans in 907.
Hair. A spring or other contrivance in a rifle or pistol lock, which, being unlocked by a slight pressure on the trigger, strikes the tumbler-catch, and unlocks the tumbler.
Hair-cloth. A species of cloth made of horse-hair, laid upon the floors of magazines and laboratories to prevent accidents. It is usually made up in pieces 14 feet long and 11 feet wide, each weighing 36 pounds.
Hair-line. A line made of hair; a very fine line. This line is used in military engineering.
Hair-trigger. A trigger so constructed as to discharge a fire-arm by a very slight pressure, as by the touch of a hair. It is connected with the tumbler-catch by a device called a [hair].
Hajduk, Haiduk, or Hayduk. The Magyar inhabitants of the district of Hajdu Kerulet, in Eastern Hungary. The Hajduk are direct descendants of those warriors, who, during the long and bloody contest between the house of Hapsburg and the Protestant insurgents of Hungary, formed the nucleus of Prince Stephen Bocskay’s valiant armies. They formerly enjoyed the privileges of the nobility, and were free from taxation.
Hake. An old term for a hand-gun.