hawk
see also: Hawk
Pronunciation Noun

hawk (plural hawks)

  1. A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle.
    It is illegal to hunt hawks or other raptors in many parts of the world.
  2. Any diurnal predatory terrestrial bird of similar size and appearance to the accipitrid hawks, such as a falcon
  3. (politics) An advocate of aggressive political positions and actions. [from 1962]
    Synonyms: warmonger, war hawk
    Antonyms: dove
    • 1962, McGeorge Bundy
      Everybody knows who were the hawks and who were the doves.
    • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 106:
      A hawk by nature, Ellenborough strongly favoured presenting St Petersburg with an ultimatum warning that any further incursions into Persia would be regarded as a hostile act.
    • 2019, "The World in 2020", The Economist
      President Donald Trump has spent years playing the role of a China hawk.
  4. (game theory) An uncooperative or purely-selfish participant in an exchange or game, especially when untrusting, acquisitive or treacherous. Refers specifically to the Prisoner's Dilemma, alias the Hawk-Dove game.
    Antonyms: dove
Related terms Translations Translations Verb

hawk (hawks, present participle hawking; past and past participle hawked)

  1. (transitive) To hunt with a hawk.
  2. (intransitive) To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk.
    to hawk at flies
    • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene iv]:
      A falcon, towering in her pride of place, / Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed.
Translations
  • Portuguese: falcoar
Noun

hawk (plural hawks)

  1. A plasterer's tool, made of a flat surface with a handle below, used to hold an amount of plaster prior to application to the wall or ceiling being worked on: a mortarboard.
    Synonyms: mortarboard
Translations Verb

hawk (hawks, present participle hawking; past and past participle hawked)

  1. (transitive) To sell; to offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle.
    The vendors were hawking their wares from little tables lining either side of the market square.
    • 1713, Jonathan Swift, Imitation of Horace, Book I. Ep. VII.
      His works were hawked in every street.
Related terms Translations Noun

hawk (plural hawks)

  1. A noisy effort to force up phlegm from the throat.
Synonyms Translations
  • Italian: scatarrare,
  • Portuguese: pigarro, pigarreada
Verb

hawk (hawks, present participle hawking; past and past participle hawked)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To cough up something from one's throat.
    • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, I. xvi. 117
      He hawked up, with incredible straining, the interjection ah!
    • 1953, Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March, Viking Press, chapter 3:
      He had a new tough manner of pulling down breath and hawking into the street.
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To try to cough up something from one's throat; to clear the throat loudly.
    Grandpa sat on the front porch, hawking and wheezing, as he packed his pipe with cheap tobacco.
Translations
Hawk
Proper noun
  1. Surname



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