- hack around|Waste time|I’ve been HACKING AROUND all morning because I can’t get down to doing any revision.|_
- hack into|Break into a computer system|He HACKED INTO the government database and stole a lot of data.|_
- hack off|Annoy|He HACKS me OFF with his endless complaining.|_
- hack up|Chop or cut into small pieces|They HACKED the table UP and burnt it.|_
- ham up|Perform or act in an excessive way to attract attention or amuse people|He HAMMED the part UP to get the audience to laugh.|_
- hammer away at|Work relentlessly|She HAMMERED AWAY AT her PC all night and finished the project.|_
- hammer into|Repeat something over a period of time to make someone remember it|He HAMMERED the rules INTO me.|_
- hammer out|Negotiate and reach an agreement|They HAMMERED OUT their differences and got the contract signed.|1
- hand back|Return|The police officer checked my licence, then HANDED it BACK.|_
- hand down|Pass on to the next generation|The jewellery has been HANDED DOWN in my family for generations.|1
- hand in|Submit work for appraisal|I HANDED my homework IN late as usual.|_
- hand on|Give to someone else|I HANDED the job ON to a colleague.|_
- hand out|Distribute|The teacher HANDED OUT the worksheet to the class.|1
- hand over|Give|The robbers told the clerk to HAND OVER all the money.|1
- hang about|Stop what you’re doing and pay attention to me|HANG ABOUT! We’re not allowed to do this.|_
- hang about!|Stop what you’re doing and pay attention to me|HANG ABOUT! We’re not allowed to do this.|_
- hang around|Stay in a place|They HANG AROUND the station most of the day.|1
- hang back|Not move forwards to avoid doing something|When they raced towards the entrance, I HUNG BACK till it was less crowded.|1
- hang back from|Delay or avoid doing something|They were HANGING BACK FROM making the final decision.|_
- hang in there|Persevere, not give up|Were were doing badly, but we HUNG IN THERE till we finished.|_
- hang it up|Retire, quit|I’m getting too old for this- I’m going to HANG IT UP starting next month.|_
- hang on|Wait|Could you HANG ON for a moment till she’s free.|1
- hang onto|Keep|I HUNG ONTO my old records even though I never played them.|_
- hang out|Spend time socially|He HANGS OUT in the pub The Monarch; he’s there most nights.|1
- hang out for|Wait or refuse to do something until you get what you want|She’s HANGING OUT FOR a big raise.|_
- hang over|Worry or trouble|I have a lot of financial problem HANGING OVER my head.|_
- hang together|Work together when things are difficult|We have to HANG TOGETHER if we’re going to finish this project.|1
- hang up|End a phone call|I lost my temper and HUNG UP.|1
- hang up on|End a phone call with someone|A telesales person called, so I said something rude and HUNG UP ON them.|_
- hang with|Spend time with|He has been HANGING WITH them for a few months.|_
- hanker after|Want something a lot, especially if you shouldn’t want it or can’t have it|I’m supposed to be on a diet and I can’t stop HANKERING AFTER some chocolate.|_
- hanker for|Want something a lot, especially if you shouldn’t want it or can’t have it|I have always HANKERED FOR a soft-top car.|_
- harp on|Talk repeatedly about something|I was late twice last week and my boss keeps HARPING ON about it.|_
- hash out|Resolve a problem or reach an agreement through discussion|We HASHED OUT our differences and drew up the agreement.|1
- hash up|Spoil, make a mess|I HASHED UP the exam.|_
- hate on|Be jealous, abuse or have an active hatred of someone|She HATES ON people who disagree with her ideas.|_
- have against|Dislike, disagree or hold a grudge (Usually negative)|I HAVE nothing AGAINST their proposals.|_
- have around|Entertain someone in your home|I HAD the neighbours AROUND for dinner last night.|_
- have down as|Think of someone or something in a particular way|I HAD her DOWN AS a liberal, but I was very wrong.|_
- have in|Have a supply of something in a particular place|Do we HAVE any beer IN?|_
- have it away|Have sex with someone, especially casual sex|She HAD IT AWAY with him last Friday.|1
- have it in for|Hold a grudge|He has HAD IT IN FOR me since I beat him last year.|_
- have it off|Have sex|They HAD IT OFF after the party.|1
- have it out with|Discuss or argue an issue to improve a situation|I’d been worried for ages, so I decided to HAVE IT OUT WITH them.|_
- have off|Take time off work|I HAD a couple of days OFF last week to relax.|_
- have on|Be wearing|What did Jennie HAVE ON at the party?|1
- have over|Receive a guest|Shall we HAVE them OVER for dinner?|_
- have round|Entertain someone in your home|I HAD a few friends ROUND yesterday.|_
- have up|Make someone appear in court|They HAD him UP for armed robbery.|_
- head for|Move or travel towards|It’s getting late- I’m HEADING FOR home.|_
- head off|Stop someone or force them to change direction|The sheriff and his men HEADED the bandits OFF at the pass.|1
- head out|Go out|We’re HEADING OUT at seven, so don’t be late.|_
- head up|Be in charge|He’s HEADING UP the steering committee.|1
- hear about|Get to know some information|Have you HEARD ABOUT the company takeover?|_
- hear from|Receive a phone call, email, letter or other communication from someone|I haven’t HEARD FROM them since we left university.|_
- hear of|Know of something or someone’s existence|I’ve HEARD OF the band, but don’t know their music.|_
- hear out|Listen to everything someone has to say|I HEARD them OUT before I commented.|1
- heat up|Make food hot|He HEATED the soup UP in the microwave.|1
- help out|Give assistance|She really HELPED me OUT when I was going through my divorce.|1
- hem in|Surround or obstruct|Broadcasters could be HEMMED IN by legal restrictions.|1
- hew to|Conform, adhere|The work HEWED TO conventional ideas.|_
- hide away|Put something in a place where it won’t be found|They HID the money AWAY in secret bank accounts.|_
- hide out|Go or stay somewhere to avoid being caught or found|The police think he’s HIDING OUT in the woods.|1
- hinge on|Depend very much or completely|Everything HINGES ON the results of the negotiations; if they go badly, we’ll be in real trouble.|1
- hinge upon|Depend very much or completely|Everything HINGES UPON the results of the negotiations; if they go badly, we’ll be in real trouble.|1
- hit back|Attack or criticise|The president HIT BACK at her critics in a speech last night.|_
- hit for|Get someone to pay or donate money|They HIT the sponsors FOR a lot of money.|_
- hit it off|Have a good relationship from the first time you meet a person|We HIT IT OFF immediately and became firm friends.|_
- hit it off with|Like someone from the first time you meet them|I HIT IT OFF WITH her immediately.|_
- hit on|Have an idea|I suddenly HIT ON the solution|_
- hit out at|Respond angrily to criticism|The government HIT OUT AT the media for their negativity.|_
- hit up|Inject drugs|She’s been HITTING UP for years.|_
- hit up on|Inject drugs|He’s been HITTING UP ON heroin for years.|_
- hit upon|Have an idea|It took us ages to HIT UPON a solution.|_
- hit with|Surprise someone with some information or news|He HIT me WITH the details of their demands.|_
- hive off|Separate part of a company or service, often by selling it|They HIVED OFF the retail operations.|1
- hold against|Have a grudge against someone, or little respect|He was very rude, but I won’t HOLD it AGAINST him.|_
- hold back|Not show emotion|It was really hard to HOLD BACK the tears.|1
- hold back from|Not allow yourself to do something|I had to HOLD BACK FROM losing my temper with them.|_
- hold down|Keep a job|He’s so unreliable that he can never HOLD DOWN a job for more than a couple of months.|1
- hold forth|State your opinions about something, especially when talking for a long time and boringly|The manager HELD FORTH on the topic for about twenty minutes.|1
- hold off|When bad weather doesn’t appear|The rain HELD OFF until we’d got back home.|1
- hold on|Wait|Could you HOLD ON for a minute; she’ll be free in a moment.|1
- hold on to|Hold tightly|I HELD ON TO my luggage while I was waiting fr the taxi so that it didn’t get stolen.|_
- hold onto|Keep as long as possible|It tried to HOLD ONTO my cash during the holiday so I could buy some duty free stuff on the way back.|_
- hold out|Resist|When the enemy attacked, they HELD OUT for six weeks.|1
- hold out against|Try to reject|The staff are HOLDING OUT AGAINST the plans to reduce the workforce.|_
- hold out for|Wait for something better or refuse something now for something better in the future|We are HOLDING OUT FOR a much better deal than the one offered.|_
- hold out on|Not pay someone or give them information|He’s been HOLDING OUT ON me for weeks and I really need the money.|_
- hold over|Delay|The meeting has been HELD OVER till Friday.|1
- hold to|Oblige or force someone to carry out an obligation|They’re HOLDING us TO all the terms of the contract.|_
- hold together|Not break up|The society managed to HOLD TOGETHER despite the crisis.|_
- hold up|Delay when travelling|I was HELD UP by the terrible traffic and arrived half an hour late for my appointment.|1
- hold with|Accept (usually negative)|I don’t HOLD WITH their plans.|_
- hole up|Hide to avoid detection or an unpleasant situation|They HOLED UP in a remote cottage while the police were searching for them.|1
- hollow out|Make an empty space inside in something, reduce power or authority|The new law has HOLLOWED OUT local government.|1
- home in on|Target|The government is HOMING IN ON benefit fraud.|_
- hone in on|Target, focus|The company HONED IN ON its rival and tried to take it over. (Some consider this verb to be wrong and that is confused with ‘home in on.)|_
- hook into|Persuade someone to do something they don’t want to do|She HOOKED them INTO coming after all.|_
- hook up|Meet someone|We HOOKED UP at the conference.|1
- hook up to|Connect to a machine|He’s HOOKED UP TO a ventilator in the hospital.|_
- hoon around|Act in a dangerous or reckless way, especially when driving fast|He was HOONING AROUND in his new car last night and the police pulled him.|_
- horse around|Not be serious|The class were HORSING AROUND when the teacher came in and told them to sit down.|1
- hose down|Use a hose to wet, clean or wash something|They HOSED the patio DOWN.|1
- hound out|Force someone out of a place, job, position, etc.|The press HOUNDED the minister OUT after the scandal broke.|_
- hover around|Move about a place|She was HOVERING AROUND to see what we were talking about.|_
- hunker down|Settle in a place as comfortably as possible to stay there|The troops HUNKERED DOWN in the building.|1
- hunt down|Search for someone to punish or kill them|The police HUNTED the killer DOWN.|1
- hunt out|Search until you find something|It took me ages to HUNT OUT the photos.|_
- hunt up|Search for and manage to find something|He HUNTED UP a copy the book in the British library.|_
- hush up|Try to keep something bad from becoming widely known|The company tried to HUSH UP the scandal, but it still got into the newspapers.|1
- hutch up|Share accommodation with a number of people because of the high rent|Property prices are so high in London that many young people are HUTCHING UP.|_