haw

Etymology 1

From Middle English ha (interjection). Compare Old Norse há (interjection), Middle Low German ha, hā (interjection), Old High German aha, hei (interjection).

intj

1. An imitation of laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often doubled or tripled (haw haw or haw haw haw).
   You think that song was good? Haw!
2. An intermission or hesitation of speech, with a sound somewhat like "haw"; the sound so made.
   Hums or haws. 1720, William Congreve, An Impossible Thing

verb

1. To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw; to speak with interruption and hesitation.

Etymology 2

From Middle English hawe, from Old English haga (“enclosure, hedge”), from Proto-Germanic *hagô (compare West Frisian haach, Dutch haag, German Hag (“hedged farmland”), Norwegian Bokmål hage (“garden”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰom (compare Welsh cae (“hedge”), Latin caulae (“sheepfold, enclosure”), cohum (“strap between plowbeam and yoke”), Russian кош (koš, “tent”), коша́ра (košára, “sheepfold”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣa, “curtain wall”)), from *kagʰ- 'to catch, grasp' (compare Welsh cau (“to clasp”), Oscan kahad (“may he seize”).

noun

1. Fruit of the hawthorn.
2. (historical) A hedge.
3. (obsolete) Something that has little value or importance; a whit or jot.

Etymology 3

Assumed to be interjectory, but compare Old English hawian (“to observe, look”)

intj

1. An instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver, typically left.
   Coordinate term: gee

verb

1. (of an animal) To turn towards the driver, typically to the left.
   This horse won't haw when I tell him to.
2. To cause (an animal) to turn left.
   You may have to go to the front of the pack and physically haw the lead dog.

Etymology 4

Late Middle English (denoting a discharge from the eye), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Etymology 2 above, describing a berry.

noun

1. (countable, anatomy) The third eyelid, or nictitating membrane.
2. (uncountable) A disease of the nictitating membrane.