628
**Hallmark** *trademark* a US company that makes GREETING CARDS. It has the EXCLUSIVE rights to use pictures from the COMIC STRIP Peanuts.
**hal·lo** /h@`l@U, he-, hæ-/ *interj, n pl.* **-los** *BrE* for HELLO
**,Hall of 'Fame** *pl.* **Halls of Fame** **1** *AmE* a list of the people who are considered to be the best or most successful in a particular sport or activity **2** (in the US) a building where people can go to learn about a particular sport or activity, and see the clothing, equipment etc belonging to the famous people connected with it: *the country music Hall of Fame*
**,hall of 'residence** also **hall** *BrE* || **dormitory** *AmE* — *n* a building belonging to a college or university where many students live and sleep
**hal·low** /`hæl@U/ *v* [T *often pass.*] **1** *fml* to set apart as holy: *Murderers were not buried in hallowed ground.* **2** Hal-lowed be thy name a phrase from the LORD'S PRAYER
**Hal·low·een, Hallowe'en** /,hæl@U`i:n/ *n* the night of October 31, when it was formerly believed that the SPIRITS of the dead appeared -> see Feature on page A18
**CULTURAL NOTE** Halloween is celebrated in both the US and the UK. Children dress in special clothes, for example as GHOSTS, PRINCESSES, COWBOYS, or WITCHes. Children go trick-or-treating (TRICK OR TREAT), which means they go from house to house dressed in their special clothes, knocking on doors and saying 'trick or treat!' The people in the houses must then either give the children a 'treat' (usually sweets) or the children will play a trick on them. People also make JACK-O'-LANTERNS by cutting faces in PUMPKINS and putting a light inside. Trick-or-treating is much more common in the US than in the UK, and in some areas people decorate their houses with ghosts or make their front gardens look like GRAVEYARDS. Children and older people sometimes go to Halloween parties where they play games such as 'bobbing for apples', when they try to catch an apple floating in water by using their teeth. Food at these parties is usually made to look very strange, for example by making it an unusual colour or by making it in the shape of a witch, a ghost, or a BAT (=a small black animal like a mouse with wings). Many of these Halloween traditions originally come from the US, but they are now also common in the UK.
**Halls** /hɔ:lz/ *trademark* a type of COUGH SWEET (=a sweet with medicine to make your throat less sore and help you stop coughing) sold in the US and the UK
**hal·lu·ci·nate** /h@`lu:sIneIt/ *v* [I] to see things or experience things which are not real: *As soon as the drug took effect, she started hallucinating.*
**hal·lu·ci·na·tion** /h@,lu:sI`neIʃn/ *n* [C;U] (the experience of seeing or feeling) something that is not really there, often as the result of a drug or an illness of the mind
**hal·lu·ci·na·to·ry** /h@`lu:sIn@t@ri||-tɔ:ri/ *adj fml* causing or like a hallucination: *a hallucinatory image/experience*
**hal·lu·cin·o·gen** /h@`lu:sIn@dʒn/ *n* [C] a substance that causes hallucinations
**hal·lu·ci·no·gen·ic** /h@,lu:sIn@`dʒenIk/ *adj* causing hallucination: *hallucinogenic drugs*
**hall·way** /`hɔ:lweI/ *n especially AmE* for HALL
**ha·lo** /`heIl@U/ *n pl.* **-loes** or **-los** **1** a golden circle representing light around the heads of holy people (SAINTS) in religious paintings **2** a bright circle of light, such as that seen around the sun or moon in misty weather
**Hals, Frans** /hæls||ha:ls, fræns||fra:ns/ (?1580-1666) a Dutch painter known especially for his PORTRAITS (=paintings of real people). His most famous portrait is *The LAUGHING CAVALIER.*
**halt¹** /hɔ:lt/ *v* [I;T] *rather fml* to (cause to) stop: *'Halt! Who goes there?' shouted the sentry. | The train was halted by work on the line. | government measures designed to halt the decline in our car industry*
**halt²** *n* **1** [S] a stop or pause: *The car came to a halt just in time to prevent an accident. | Production was brought to a halt by an unofficial strike. | It's about time we called a halt to*
(=stopped) all this senseless arguing. **2** [C] *BrE* a small country railway station without proper buildings: *country halts*
**halt³** *n* [the P] *old use* people who cannot walk properly; those who are LAME
**hal·ter** /`hɒ:ltə/ *n* **1** a rope or leather band fastened round a horse's head, especially to lead it **2** an upper garment for women that is tied behind the neck and across the back, leaving the arms and back uncovered **3** *old use or lit* a piece of rope for hanging criminals
**hal·ter·neck** /`hɒ:lt@nek||-tər-/ *n* (a garment, especially a dress) that leaves the wearer's back and arms uncovered and is held in place by a narrow band of material that is tied behind the neck
**halt·ing** /`hɔ:ltIŋ/ *adj* stopping and starting as if uncertain: *a halting voice | halting steps* —**-ly** *adv*
**halve** /hɑ:v||hæv/ *v* [T] **1** to reduce by half: *By introducing robots we've managed to halve the time it takes to assemble a car.* **2** to divide into halves: *to halve an apple*
**halves** /hɑ:vz||hævz/ *pl. of* HALF
**hal·yard, halliard** /`hæljəd||-jərd/ *n tech* a rope used to raise or lower a flag or sail
**ham¹** /hæm/ *n* **1** [C;U] (meat from) the upper part of a pig's leg preserved with salt or smoke for use as food: *two slices of ham | ham and eggs for breakfast | a ham sandwich | two whole hams* -> compare BACON, GAMMON; see MEAT (USAGE) **2** [C] the upper part of the leg **3** [C] *derog* an actor whose acting is unnatural, especially with too much movement and expression: *a ham actor* **4** [C] someone who receives and sends radio messages using their own apparatus: *a radio ham*
**ham²** *v* **-mm-** [I;T(UP)] to perform or tell unnaturally or wildly, like a ham actor: *It was a good script but they spoiled it by hamming it up.*
**Ha·mas** /`hɑ:mɑ:s/ an organization of Islamic FUNDAMENTAL-ISTS (=people who follow the rules of their religion very strictly) in Palestine. It opposes the PLO's peace agreements with Israel.
**ham·burg·er** /`hæmbɜ:gə || -ɜ:r-/ also **burg·er** *n* **1** [C] a flat round cake of finely cut BEEF cooked and eaten in a round bread ROLL **2** [U] *AmE* for MINCE
**Hamed, Prince Naseem** -> see PRINCE NASEEM
**,ham-'fisted** also **,ham-'handed** *adj infml derog* awkward in using the hands; CLUMSY: *(fig.) the government's ham-fisted approach to dealing with the strike.*
**Ham·il·ton, Al·ex·an·der** /`hæmIltən, ,ælIg`zɑ:ndə || -`zæ-/ (?1755-1804) a US politician who helped to write the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES and was the first US Secretary of the Treasury from 1789 to 1795. Alexander Hamilton's picture is printed on the US ten-dollar BILL.
**Hamilton, Neil** /ni:l/ (1949-) a British man who was a Conservative Member of Parliament. In 1994, *The Guardian* newspaper ACCUSED him of receiving money from Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods, for asking questions in the House of Commons. This became known as the 'Cash-for-questions affair'. Hamilton was forced to leave his job as Corporate Affairs Minister. In the 1997 election Martin Bell, a well-known BBC JOURNALIST, successfully fought as an independent CANDIDATE against Hamilton. Hamilton's wife, Christine (1949-), is known for having a strong personality, and she usually appears with him in public. Since he left parliament, they have appeared together in a number of television entertainment programmes.
**Hamilton, Thomas** -> see DUNBLANE
**ham·let** /`hæmlIt/ *n* a small village
**Hamlet** the main character in the play *Hamlet* by William SHAKESPEARE, which is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, and is a serious unhappy young man who is unable to decide how he feels or what he should do. There are many famous phrases from this play, including 'To be or not to be, that is the question' and 'Alas, poor Yorick', and in pictures Hamlet is often shown holding YORICK'S SKULL (=the head of a dead person without any flesh on it). -> see also OPHELIA; see colour photo on page A26
**ham·mer¹** /`hæmə/ *n* **1** a tool with a heavy metal head for forcing nails into wood, or for striking things to break them or move them **2** a part of a machine or instrument made t