Hounding
(Hound"ing), n.
1. The act of one who hounds.
2. (Naut.) The part of a mast below the hounds and above the deck.
Hound's-tongue
(Hound's"-tongue`) n. [AS. hundes tunge.] (Bot.) A biennial weed (Cynoglossum
officinale), with soft tongue-shaped leaves, and an offensive odor. It bears nutlets covered with barbed
or hooked prickles. Called also dog's-tongue.
Houp
(Houp) n. (Zoöl.) See Hoopoe. [Obs.]
Hour
(Hour) n. [OE. hour, our, hore, ure, OF. hore, ore, ure, F. heure, L. hora, fr. Gr. orig., a
definite space of time, fixed by natural laws; hence, a season, the time of the day, an hour. See Year,
and cf. Horologe, Horoscope.]
1. The twenty-fourth part of a day; sixty minutes.
2. The time of the day, as expressed in hours and minutes, and indicated by a timepiece; as, what is the
hour? At what hour shall we meet?
3. Fixed or appointed time; conjuncture; a particular time or occasion; as, the hour of greatest peril; the
man for the hour.
Woman, . . . mine hour is not yet come.
John ii. 4.
This is your hour, and the power of darkness.
Luke xxii. 53. 4. pl. (R. C. Ch.) Certain prayers to be repeated at stated times of the day, as matins and vespers.
5. A measure of distance traveled.
Vilvoorden, three hours from Brussels.
J. P. Peters. After hours, after the time appointed for one's regular labor. — Canonical hours. See under Canonical.
— Hour angle (Astron.), the angle between the hour circle passing through a given body, and the
meridian of a place. — Hour circle. (Astron.) (a) Any circle of the sphere passing through the two
poles of the equator; esp., one of the circles drawn on an artificial globe through the poles, and dividing
the equator into spaces of 15°, or one hour, each. (b) A circle upon an equatorial telescope lying parallel
to the plane of the earth's equator, and graduated in hours and subdivisions of hours of right ascension.
(c) A small brass circle attached to the north pole of an artificial globe, and divided into twenty- four
parts or hours. It is used to mark differences of time in working problems on the globe. — Hour hand,
the hand or index which shows the hour on a timepiece. — Hour line. (a) (Astron.) A line indicating
the hour. (b) (Dialing) A line on which the shadow falls at a given hour; the intersection of an hour
circle which the face of the dial. — Hour plate, the plate of a timepiece on which the hours are marked; the
dial. Locke. — Sidereal hour, the twenty-fourth part of a sidereal day. — Solar hour, the twenty-
fourth part of a solar day. — The small hours, the early hours of the morning, as one o'clock, two
o'clock, etc. — To keep good hours, to be regular in going to bed early.
Hourglass
(Hour"glass`) n. An instrument for measuring time, especially the interval of an hour. It consists
of a glass vessel having two compartments, from the uppermost of which a quantity of sand, water, or
mercury occupies an hour in running through a small aperture unto the lower.
A similar instrument measuring any other interval of time takes its name from the interval measured; as,
a half-hour glass, a half-minute glass. A three-minute glass is sometimes called an egg-glass, from
being used to time the boiling of eggs.
