Chapter Housebote to However of H by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

1. In what manner or way; by what means or process.

How can a man be born when he is old?

John iii. 4.

2. To what degree or extent, number or amount; in what proportion; by what measure or quality.

O, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Ps. cxix. 97.

By how much they would diminish the present extent of the sea, so much they would impair the fertility, and fountains, and rivers of the earth.

Bentley.

3. For what reason; from what cause.

How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale?

Shak.

4. In what state, condition, or plight.

How, and with what reproach, shall I return?

Dryden.

5. By what name, designation, or title.

How art thou called?

Shak.

6. At what price; how dear. [Obs.]

How a score of ewes now?

Shak.

How is used in each sense, interrogatively, interjectionally, and relatively; it is also often employed to emphasize an interrogation or exclamation. "How are the mighty fallen!" 2 Sam. i. 27. Sometimes, also, it is used as a noun; — as, the how, the when, the wherefore. Shelley.

Let me beg you — don't say "How?" for "What?"

Holmes.

Howadji
(||How*adj"i) n. [Ar.]

1. A traveler.

2. A merchant; — so called in the East because merchants were formerly the chief travelers.

Howbeit
(How*be"it) conj. [How + be + it.] Be it as it may; nevertheless; notwithstanding; although; albeit; yet; but; however.

The Moor — howbeit that I endure him not -
Is of a constant, loving, noble nature.

Shak.

Howdah
(How"dah) n. [Ar. hawdaj.] A seat or pavilion, generally covered, fastened on the back of an elephant, for the rider or riders. [Written also houdah.]

Howdy
(How"dy) n. [Scot., also houdy- wife. Of uncertain origin; cf. OSw. jordgumma; or perh. fr. E. how d'ye.] A midwife. [Prov. Eng.]

Howel
(How"el) n. A tool used by coopers for smoothing and chamfering rheir work, especially the inside of casks.

Howel
(How"el), v. t. To smooth; to plane; as, to howel a cask.

Howell
(How"ell), n. The upper stage of a porcelian furnace.

However
(How*ev"er) adv. [Sometimes contracted into howe'er.]