[have the makings of]{v. phr.} To possess the basic ingredients; have the basic qualities to do something. •/Tom is still young but he seems to have the makings of an excellent pianist./
[have the right-of-way]{v. phr.} To have priority in proceeding in traffic on a public highway while other vehicles must yield and wait. •/"Go ahead," he said. "We have the right-of-way at this intersection."/
[have the time of one’s life] See: TIME OF ONE’S LIFE.
[have the worst of] See: GET THE WORST OF.
[have to] or [have got to] {v.}, {informal} To be obliged or forced to; need to; must. •/Do you have to go now?/ •/He had to come. His parents made him./ •/I have got to go to the doctor./ •/I have to go to Church./
[have to do with]{v. phr.} 1. To be about; be on the subject of or connected with. •/The book has to do with airplanes./ 2. To know or be a friend of; work or have business with. — Usually used in negative sentence. •/Tom said he didn’t want to have anything to do with the new boy./ •/I had nothing to do with the party; I was home that night./
[have too many irons in the fire] See: TOO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE.
[have two strikes against one] or [have two strikes on one] {v. phr.}, {informal} To have things working against you; be hindered in several ways; be in a difficult situation; be unlikely to succeed. •/Children from the poorest parts of a city often have two strikes against them before they enter school./ •/George has two strikes against him already. Everybody is against what he wants to do./ Compare: BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL. (In baseball, three strikes are out. If the umpire calls two strikes against the batter, he has only one strike left and will be out if he gets one more strike.)
[haw] See: HEM AND HAW.
[hay] See: HIT THE HAY.
[haystack] See: NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK.
[haywire] See: GO HAYWIRE.
[hazard] See: AT ALL HAZARDS.
[haze] See: IN A FOG or IN A HAZE.
[head] See: ACID HEAD, BEAT INTO ONE’S HEAD, BEAT ONE’S HEAD AGAINST A WALL, BIG HEAD, COUNT HEADS, EYES IN THE BACK OF ONE’S HEAD, FROM HEAD TO FOOT, GET THROUGH ONE’S HEAD, GOOD HEAD ON ONE’S SHOULDERS, GO TO ONE’S HEAD, HANG ONE’S HEAD, HAVE ONE’S HEAD IN THE SAND, HAVE ROCKS IN ONE’S HEAD, HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON ONE’S HEAD, HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD, HANG OVER ONE’S HEAD, HIDE ONE’S FACE or HIDE ONE’S HEAD, HOLD ONE’S HEAD UP, KEEP A CIVIL TONGUE IN ONE’S HEAD, KEEP ONE’S HEAD, LOSE ONE’S HEAD, MAKE HEAD OR TAIL OF, OFF THE TOP OF ONE’S HEAD, ON ONE’S HEAD, OUT OF ONE’S HEAD, also OFF ONE’S HEAD, OVER ONE’S HEAD, PRICE ON ONE’S HEAD, PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER or LAY THEIR HEADS TOGETHER, SWELLED HEAD, TAKE INTO ONE’S HEAD, TELL --- WHERE TO GET OFF or TELL --- WHERE TO HEAD IN, THROW ONESELF AT SOMEONE’S HEAD or FLING ONESELF AT SOMEONE’S HEAD, TURN ONE’S HEAD, USE ONE’S HEAD.
[head above water]{n. phr.} out of difficulty; clear of trouble. •/How are your marks at school? Are you keeping your head above water?/ •/Business at the store is bad. They can’t keep their heads above water./
[head and shoulders]{adv. phr.} 1. By the measure of the head and shoulders. •/The basketball player is head and shoulders taller than the other boys./ 2. By far; by a great deal; very much. •/She is head and shoulders above the rest of the class in singing./ See: FAR AND AWAY.
[header] See: DOUBLE-HEADER.
[head for]{v. phr.} To go in the direction of. •/We left early in the morning and headed for Niagara Falls./
[head for the hills]{v. phr.}, {informal} To get far away in a hurry; run away and hide. — Often used imperatively. •/Head for the hills. The bandits are coming./ •/He saw the crowd chasing him, so he headed for the hills./ •/When they saw the mean boy coming, they all headed for the hills./ Compare: BEAT IT, LIGHT OUT, TAKE TO THE WOODS.
[head-hunting]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. The custom of seeking out, decapitating, and preserving the heads of enemies as trophies. 2. A search for qualified individuals to fill certain positions. •/The president sent a committee to the colleges and universities to do some head-hunting; we hope he finds some young talent./ 3. A systematic destruction of opponents, especially in politics. •/Billings was hired by the party to do some head-hunting among members of the opposition./
[head in the clouds] See: IN THE CLOUDS.
[head in the sand] See: HIDE ONE’S HEAD IN THE SAND.
[head off]{v.} 1. To get in front of and stop, turn back, or turn aside. •/The sheriff said to head the cattle thieves off at the pass./ 2. To block; stop; prevent. •/He will get into trouble if someone doesn’t head him off./
[head-on]{adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. With the head or front pointing at; with the front facing; front end to front end. •/Our car skidded into a head-on crash with the truck./ •/In the fog the boat ran head-on into a log./ •/There is a head-on view of the parade from our house./ Compare: FACE-TO-FACE. Contrast: REAR-END. 2. In a way that is exactly opposite; against or opposed to in argument. •/If you think a rule should be changed, a head-on attack against it is best./ •/Tom did not want to argue head-on what the teacher said, so he said nothing./
[head out]{v.} 1. To go or point away. •/The ship left port and headed out to sea./ •/The car was parked beside the house. It was headed out towards the street./ 2. {informal} Leave; start out. •/I have a long way to go before dark. I’m going to head out./
[head over heels] also [heels over head] 1a. In a somersault; upside down; head first. •/It was so dark Bob fell head over heels into a big hole in the ground./ Compare: UPSIDE DOWN. 1b. In great confusion or disorder; hastily. •/The children all tried to come in the door at once, head over heels./ Compare: TOPSY-TURVY. 2. {informal} Completely; deeply. •/He was head over heels in debt./ •/She was head over heels in love./
[headshrinker]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} A psychoanalyst, also called a shrink. •/Forrester is falling apart; his family physician sent him to a head shrinker (to a shrink)./
[head start]{n.} 1. A beginning before someone; lead or advantage at the beginning. •/The other racers knew they couldn’t catch Don if he got too big a head start./ •/Joe has a head start. He began to study earlier than we did./ 2. A good beginning. •/Let’s get a head start in painting the house by getting up early./ •/The teacher gave the class a head start on the exercise by telling them the answers to the first two problems./ Compare: RUNNING START.
[heads or tails]{n. phr.} The two sides of a coin, especially when the coin is tossed in the air in order to decide which of two alternatives are to be followed. •/Tom tossed a quarter in the air and said, "Tails, I win; heads you win."/
[heads up]{interj.}, {informal} Keep your head up and be careful or ready. — Used as a warning to prepare for something or clear the way •/"Heads up!" said the waiter carrying the hot food./ •/Heads up, boys! A train is coming./ •/Heads up, now! You can do better than that./ Syn.: LOOK ALIVE, LOOK OUT.
[heads-up]{adj.}, {informal} Wide-awake; alert; watchful; intelligent. •/You must play hard, heads-up baseball to win this game./ Compare: ON ONE’S TOES, ON THE BALL.
[head up]{v.}, {informal} 1. To be at the head or front of. •/The elephants headed up the whole parade./ 2. To be the leader or boss of. •/Mr. Jones will head up the new business./ •/The class planned a candy sale, and they elected Mary to head it up./
[health] See: CLEAN HILL OF HEALTH.
[heap] See: STRIKE ALL OF A HEAP.
[heap coals of fire on one’s head]{v. phr.}, {literary} To be kind or helpful to someone who has done wrong to you, so that he is ashamed. •/Alice heaped coals of fire on Mary’s head by inviting her to a party after Mary had gossiped about her./ •/Jean Valjean stole the Bishop’s silver, but the Bishop heaped coals of fire on his head by giving the silver to him./
[hear] See: WILL NOT HEAR OF.
[hear a pin drop]{v. phr.} Absolute silence. •/It’s so quiet in the room you could hear a pin drop./
[heart] See: AFTER ONE’S OWN HEART, AT HEART, EAT ONE’S HEART OUT, BREAK ONE’S HEART, BY HEART, CHANGE OF HEART, CROSS ONE’S HEART, DO ONE GOOD or DO ONE’S HEART GOOD, FIND IT IN ONE’S HEART, FROM THE BOTTOM OF ONE’S HEART or WITH ALL ONE’S HEART, FROM THE HEART, GET TO THE HEART OF, HAVE A HEART, HEAVY HEART, LOSE HEART, LOSE ONE’S HEART, OPEN HEART, OPEN ONE’S HEART, SEARCH ONE’S HEART, SET ONE’S HEART ON, TAKE HEART, TAKE TO HEART, TO ONE’S HEART’S CONTENT, WEAR ONE’S HEART ON ONE’S SLEEVE.
[heartbreaker]{n.} One with numerous admirers of the opposite sex; one with whom others fall in love readily. •/Tom, who has four girls in love with him at college, has developed the reputation of being a heartbreaker./
[heart and soul(1)]{n.} Eager love; strong feeling; great enthusiasm. Often used with a singular verb. •/When Mr. Pitt plays the piano, his heart and soul is in it./ •/John plays tennis badly, but with heart and soul./ •/Mary wanted a puppy with all her heart and soul./
[heart and soul(2)]{adv.} Wholly and eagerly; with all one’s interest and strength; completely. •/Will you try to make our city a better place? Then we are with you heart and soul./ •/Mike was heart and soul against the new rules./ Compare: BODY AND SOUL.
[heart goes out to]{formal} You feel very sorry for; you feel pity or sympathy for. — Used with a possessive. •/Frank’s heart went out to the poor children playing in the slum street./ •/Our hearts went out to the young mother whose child had died./
[hear the beat] or [see the beat] {v. phr.}, {dialect} To hear of or to see someone or something better or surpassing. — Usually used in negative or interrogative sentences and often followed by "of". •/I never heard the beat! John swam all the way across the river. Did you ever hear the beat of it?/ •/The juggler spun a table around on the tip of his finger. I never saw the beat of that./
[heart in one’s mouth] or [heart in one’s boots] A feeling of great fear or nervousness. — Often considered trite. •/Charles got up to make his first speech with his heart in his mouth./ •/My heart was in my mouth as I went into the haunted house./ •/When the bear came out of the woods towards us, our hearts were in our mouths./ Compare: HAIR STAND ON END.
[heart is in the right place] or [have one’s heart in the right place] To be kind-hearted, sympathetic or well-meaning; have good intentions. •/All the tramps and stray dogs in the neighborhood knew that Mrs. Brown’s heart was in the right place./ •/Tom looks very rough but his heart is in the right place./
[heart miss a beat] See: HEART SKIP A BEAT.
[heart of gold]{n. phr.} A kind, generous, or forgiving nature. •/John has a heart of gold. I never saw him angry at anyone./ •/Mrs. Brown is a rich woman with a heart of gold./ Compare: GOOD AS GOLD, HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
[heart of stone]{n. phr.} A. nature without pity. •/Mr. Smith has a heart of stone. He whipped his horse until it fell down./
[heart-searching] See: SEARCH ONE’S HEART.
[heart set] See: SET ONE’S HEART ON.
[heart sink] To lose hope, courage, or eagerness; be very disappointed. •/The soldiers' hearts sank when they saw that they were surrounded by Indians./ •/The children were happy because they were going to the beach to swim, but their hearts sank when it began to rain./
[heart skip a beat] or [heart miss a beat] 1. The heart leaves out or seems to leave out a beat; the heart beats hard or leaps from excitement or strong feeling. — Often considered trite. •/When Paul saw the bear standing in front of him, his heart skipped a beat./ 2. To be startled or excited from surprise, joy. or fright. •/When Linda was told that she had won, her heart missed a beat./
