Haw vs Naw - What's the difference?
haw | naw |
An imitation of laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often doubled or tripled (haw haw'' or ''haw haw haw ).
An intermission or hesitation of speech, with a sound somewhat like "haw"; the sound so made.
* Congreve
To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw ; to speak with interruption and hesitation.
An instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver, typically left.
(of an animal) To turn towards the driver, typically to the left.
To cause (an animal) to turn left.
(Scotland)
* 2012 , Alex Gray, A Pound of Flesh
As a proper noun haw
is .As an interjection naw is
(scotland).haw
English
Etymology 1
ImitativeInterjection
(en interjection)- You think that song was good? Haw!
- Hums or haws .
Usage notes
* (an imitation of laughter) In the US, the spelling haw is rare, with (ha) being more common.Verb
(en verb)Derived terms
* hum and haw, hem and hawEtymology 2
(etyl) hawe, from (etyl) ).Etymology 3
UnknownInterjection
(en interjection)Verb
(en verb)- This horse won't haw when I tell him to.
- You may have to go to the front of the pack and physically haw the lead dog.
Derived terms
* gee haw whimmy diddle * haw and gee, haw and gee aboutAntonyms
* (to turn left) gee * (to cause to turn left) geeEtymology 4
Uncertain.Anagrams
* * ----naw
English
Interjection
(en interjection)- 'Naw , hen, sorry. Ye're too young for us. Come back when you've got a couple mair years under yer belt, eh?'