Part 137

Ham"fat`ter (?), n. [From a negro minstrel song called "The ham-fat man."] A low-grade actor or performer. [Theatrical Slang]

Ham"mer, n. (Athletics) A spherical weight attached to a flexible handle and hurled from a mark or ring. The weight of head and handle is usually not less than 16 pounds.

Ham"mer break. (Elec.) An interrupter in which contact is broken by the movement of an automatically vibrating hammer between a contact piece and an electromagnet, or of a rapidly moving piece mechanically driven.

Hammer lock. (Wrestling) A hold in which an arm of one contestant is held twisted and bent behind his back by his opponent.

Hand (?), n. A gambling game played by American Indians, consisting of guessing the whereabouts of bits of ivory or the like, which are passed rapidly from hand to hand.

Hand"ball` (?), n. 1. A ball for throwing or using with the hand.

2. A game played with such a ball, as by players striking it to and fro between them with the hands, or alternately against a wall, until one side or the other fails to return the ball.

Hang, v. i. (Cricket, Tennis, etc.) Of a ball: To rebound unexpectedly or unusually slowly, due to backward spin on the ball or imperfections of ground.

Hang (?), v. t. To prevent from reaching a decision, esp. by refusing to join in a verdict that must be unanimous; as, one obstinate juror can hang a jury.

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Hank (?), n. (Wrestling) A throw in which a wrestler turns his left side to his opponent, twines his left leg about his opponent's right leg from the inside, and throws him backward.

{ Ha"nuk*ka, or Ha"nuk*kah (?) }, n. [Heb. khanukkh.] The Jewish Feast of the Dedication, instituted by Judas Maccabæus, his brothers, and the whole congregation of Israel, in 165 b. c., to commemorate the dedication of the new altar set up at the purification of the temple of Jerusalem to replace the altar which had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Maccabees i. 58, iv. 59). The feast, which is mentioned in John x. 22, is held for eight days (beginning with the 25th day of Kislev, corresponding to December), and is celebrated everywhere, chiefly as a festival of lights, by the Jews.

||Haph*ta"rah (?), n.; pl. - taroth (#). [Heb. haphtrh, prop., valedictory, fr. ptar to depart.] One of the lessons from the Nebiim (or Prophets) read in the Jewish synagogue on Sabbaths, feast days, fasts, and the ninth of Ab, at the end of the service, after the parashoth, or lessons from the Law. Such a practice is evidenced in Luke iv.17 and Acts xiii.15.

Hard steel. Steel hardened by the addition of other elements, as manganese, phosphorus, or (usually) carbon.

Har"vey proc"ess (?). (Metal.) A process of hardening the face of steel, as armor plates, invented by Hayward A. Harvey of New Jersey, consisting in the additional carburizing of the face of a piece of low carbon steel by subjecting it to the action of carbon under long-continued pressure at a very high heat, and then to a violent chilling, as by a spray of cold water. This process gives an armor plate a thick surface of extreme hardness supported by material gradually decreasing in hardness to the unaltered soft steel at the back.

Haul"a*bout` (?), n. A bargelike vessel with steel hull, large hatchways, and coal transporters, for coaling war vessels from its own hold or from other colliers.

Hav"ier (?), n. [Formerly haver, prob. fr. Half; cf. L. semimas emasculated, prop., half male.] A castrated deer.

Haviers, or stags which have been gelded when young, have no horns.

Encyc. of Sport.

Hawk"eye` State. Iowa; -- a nickname of obscure origin.

Haz"ard, n. (Golf) Any place into which the ball may not be safely played, such as bunkers, furze, water, sand, or other kind of bad ground.

Head"wa`ter (?), n. The source and upper part of a stream; -- commonly used in the plural; as, the headwaters of the Missouri.

Hebrew calendar. = Jewish calendar.

Heck"er*ism (?), n. (R. C. Ch.) (a) The teaching of Isaac Thomas Hecker (1819- 88), which interprets Catholicism as promoting human aspirations after liberty and truth, and as the religion best suited to the character and institutions of the American people. (b) Improperly, certain views or principles erroneously ascribed to Father Hecker in a French translation of Elliott's Life of Hecker. They were condemned as "Americanism" by the Pope, in a letter to Cardinal Gibbons, January 22, 1899.

Hec"kle, v. t. To interrogate, or ply with questions, esp. with severity or antagonism, as a candidate for the ministry.

Robert bore heckling, however, with great patience and adroitness.

Mrs. Humphry Ward.

Hedge"hog`, n. (Elec.) A variety of transformer with open magnetic circuit, the ends of the iron wire core being turned outward and presenting a bristling appearance, whence the name.