Host, hōst, n. in the R.C. Church, the consecrated bread of the Eucharist—a thin circular wafer of unleavened bread. [L. hostia, a victim.]
Hostage, hos′tāj, n. one remaining with the enemy as a pledge for the fulfilment of the conditions of a treaty.—Hostages to fortune, a man's wife, children, &c. [O. Fr. hostage (Fr. ôtage)—Low L. obsidaticus—L. obses, obsidis, a hostage.]
Hostel, hos′tel, Hostelry, hos′tel-ri, n. an inn: in some universities an extra-collegiate hall for students.—ns. Hos′teler, Hos′teller, one living in a hostel. [O. Fr. hostel, hostellerie.]
Hostile, hos′til, adj. belonging to an enemy: showing enmity: warlike: adverse.—adv. Hos′tilely.—n. Hostil′ity, enmity:—pl. Hostil′ities, acts of warfare. [L. hostilis—hostis.]
Hostler, Ostler, hos′lėr, or os′-, n. he who has the care of horses at an inn. [Hostler=hosteleer.]
Hot, hot, adj. having heat: very warm: fiery: pungent: animated: ardent in temper: fervent: vehement: violent: passionate: lustful.—adj. Hot′-and-hot′, of food cooked and served up at once in hot dishes.—ns. Hot′bed, a glass-covered bed heated for bringing forward plants rapidly: any place favourable to rapid growth or development, as 'a hotbed of vice,' &c.; Hot′blast, a blast of heated air blown into a furnace to raise the heat.—adjs. Hot′-blood′ed, having hot blood: high-spirited: irritable; Hot′-brained, hot-headed, rash and violent.—n. Hot′-cock′les, an old game in which a person is blindfolded, and being struck, guesses who strikes him; Hot′-flue, a drying-room.—adj. Hot′-head′ed, hot in the head: having warm passions: violent: impetuous.—n. Hot′-house, a house kept hot for the rearing of tender plants: any heated chamber or drying-room, esp. that where pottery is placed before going into the kiln: (Shak.) a brothel.—adv. Hot′ly.—adj. Hot′-mouthed, headstrong.—n. Hot′ness; Hot′-pot, a dish of chopped mutton seasoned and stewed with sliced potatoes.—v.t. Hot′press, to press paper, &c., between hot plates to produce a glossy surface.—adjs. Hot′-short, brittle when heated; Hot′-spir′ited, having a fiery spirit.—n., one pressing his steed with spurs as in hot haste: a violent, rash man.—adj. Hot′-tem′pered, having a quick temper.—ns. Hot′-trod, the hot pursuit in old Border forays; Hot′-wall, a wall enclosing passages for hot air, affording warmth to fruit-trees trained against it, when needed; Hot′-well, in a condensing engine, a reservoir for the warm water drawn off from the condenser.—Hot coppers (see Copper); Hot cross-buns (see Cross); Hot foot, with speed, fast; In hot water, in a state of trouble or anxiety; Make a place too hot to hold a person, to make it impossible for him to stay there. [A.S. hát; Ger. heiss, Sw. het.]
Hot, hot, Hote, hōt (Spens.) named, called. [Pa.t. and pa.p. of hight.]
Hotchpotch, hoch′poch, Hotchpot, hoch′pot, Hodgepodge, hoj′poj, n. a confused mass of ingredients shaken or mixed together in the same pot: a kind of mutton-broth in which green peas take the place of barley or rice.—Hotchpot, a commixture of property in order to secure an equable division amongst children. [Fr. hochepot—hocher, to shake, and pot, a pot—Old Dut. hutsen, to shake, Dut. pot, a pot.]
Hotel, hō-tel′, n. a superior house for the accommodation of strangers: an inn: in France, also a public office, a private town-house, a palace.—ns. Hôtel′-de-ville (Fr.), a town-hall; Hôtel′-dieu, a hospital. [M. E. hostel—O. Fr. hostel (Fr. hôtel)—L. hospitalia, guest-chambers—hospes.]
Hottentot, hot′n-tot, n. a native of the Cape of Good Hope: a brutish individual. [Dut., because the language of the South Africans seemed to the first Dutch settlers to sound like a repetition of the syllables hot and tot; Dut. en—and.]