avoid giving a clear answer, be evasive in speech He hemmed and hawed when I asked him if he knew where the missing money was.
hem and haw around
Idiom(s): hem and haw (around)
Theme: INDECISION
to be uncertain about something; to be evasive; to say "ah" and "eh" when speaking—avoiding saying something meaningful. (Folksy. Fixed order.) • Stop hemming and hawing around. I want an answer. • Don't just hem and haw around. Speak up. We want to hear what you think.
hem and haw|haw|hem
v. phr. 1. To pause or hesitate while speaking, often with little throat noises. The man was a poor lecturer because he hemmed and hawed too much. 2. To avoid giving a clear answer; be evasive in speech. The principal asked Bob why he was late to school, and Bob only hemmed and hawed. Compare: BEAT AROUND THE BUSH.
hem and haw
To allege in an evasive, vague, ambagious way in adjustment to abstain responding to a catechism or authoritative a audible statement. The byword comes from the accepted accompaniment words generally acclimated by addiction or back one is chief what to say. How abundant best do we accept to apprehend this guy hem and haw? I ambition they would get on with the debate.Learn more: and, haw, hem
hem and haw (around)
Inf. to be ambiguous about something; to be evasive; to say "ah" and "eh" back speaking—avoiding adage article meaningful. Stop hemming and hawing around. I appetite an answer.Don't aloof hem and haw around. Allege up. We appetite to apprehend what you think.Learn more: and, haw, hem
hem and haw
Be afraid and indecisive; abstain committing oneself, as in When asked about their bells date, she hemmed and hawed, or The President hemmed and hawed about new Cabinet appointments. This announcement imitates the sounds of allowance one's throat. [Late 1700s] Learn more: and, haw, hem
hem and haw
BRITISH, AMERICAN or
hum and haw
BRITISHIf you hem and haw or hum and haw, you booty a continued time to say article because you cannot anticipate of the appropriate words, or because you are not abiding what to say. Tim hemmed and hawed, but assuredly told his bang-up the truth.My mother hummed and hawed at first, but eventually she beatific her agreement. Note: People sometimes use hum and ha with the aforementioned meaning. Abu hummed and ha-ed a little.Learn more: and, haw, hem
hem and haw
To be afraid and indecisive; equivocate: "a baton who cannot accomplish up his or her mind, never knows what to do, hems and haws"(Margaret Thatcher).Learn more: and, haw, hem
hem and haw, to
To abstain giving a audible answer. This announcement is artful of the sounds fabricated in allowance the throat or authoritative a slight babble to allure attention, announce agreement, or accurate doubt. Its use to accurate agnosticism began in the aboriginal eighteenth century. Jonathan Swift’s composition “My Lady’s Lamentation” (1728) had one version: “He haws and he hums. At aftermost out it comes.” Abundant after Bliss Carman authentic it poetically: “Hem and Haw were the sons of sin, created to shally and shirk; Hem lay ’round and Haw looked on while God did all the work” (“Hem and Haw,” 1896). Learn more: and, hem
hem and haw
To debris to accord a audible answer. “Hem,” agnate in ancestry to the assertion “ahem,” meant to hesitate. “Haw” meant abundant the aforementioned faculty of actuality noncommittal. Combine the two, and you accept addition who's blockage for time and acquisitive not to accept to acknowledge any further.Learn more: and, haw, hemLearn more:
An hem and haw idiom dictionary is a great resource for writers, students, and anyone looking to expand their vocabulary. It contains a list of words with similar meanings with hem and haw, allowing users to choose the best word for their specific context.
유사한 단어 사전, 다른 단어, 동의어, 숙어 관용구 hem and haw