# hawk

Pronunciation: say "HAWK" US /hɔk/, UK /hɔːk/

## Noun

1. A bird of prey that hunts by day, smaller than an eagle, with a hooked beak and strong claws; loosely, any similar bird such as a falcon.
   - Simple: A bird with a hooked beak and sharp claws that hunts small animals during the day.
   - _The hawk dropped from the sky and seized a rabbit in its talons._
   - _Falconers often prefer hawks for hunting small game._
3. A person who favors aggressive or warlike political policies, especially the use of military force.
   - Simple: Someone who supports using force or war to solve political problems.
   - _The defense secretary was known as a hawk who never shied away from threatening force._
   - _Congressional hawks demanded tougher sanctions and a larger army._
4. Someone who favors strict economic policy, such as raising interest rates to keep inflation down or cutting government deficits.
   - Simple: A person who wants tough money rules, like higher interest rates to keep prices from rising, or big cuts in government spending.
   - _Hawks on the central bank's board pushed for another rate hike despite signs of slowing growth._
   - _As a lifelong deficit hawk, the senator refused to back any spending bill without matching cuts._
7. A noisy attempt to force phlegm up from the throat.
   - Simple: A loud, rough effort to bring up phlegm from your throat.
   - _Without a word, the fisherman let out a rough hawk, spat over the side of the boat, and went back to mending his net._
   - _Every morning began the same way for my grandfather: a cough, a deep hawk to clear his chest, and then his first cup of coffee._
9. A cold, sharp, biting wind, particularly the brutal one that blows through Chicago in winter. *(US)*
   - Simple: A cold, sharp wind that bites at your skin, especially in winter.
   - _The hawk came howling off the lake and emptied the streets._
   - _Folks in Chicago know the hawk arrives long before the first snow._
10. A flat, square board with a handle beneath it, used by plasterers to hold plaster before applying it to a wall or ceiling.
   - Simple: A flat board with a handle underneath, used to hold plaster while you work.
   - _He loaded the hawk with fresh plaster and climbed the scaffold._
   - _A good plasterer keeps the hawk close to the wall to catch any drips._

## Verb

2. To sell goods by carrying them from place to place or calling out for buyers in the street.
   - Simple: To sell things by carrying them from place to place, or by calling out to people in the street.
   - _Street sellers hawk souvenirs to tourists near the cathedral._
   - _She hawked homemade jam at every market in the county._
6. To clear the throat noisily, or to bring up phlegm from the throat by coughing.
   - Simple: To make a loud noise in your throat to cough up mucus.
   - _The old man hawked phlegm into a handkerchief._
   - _With a bad chest cold, you may hawk up thick phlegm every morning._
5. To hunt or catch prey while flying, either by pursuing insects through the air or by swooping to strike from above.
   - Simple: To chase and catch prey while flying, such as insects in the air.
   - _A flycatcher sat on the fence post, darting out now and then to hawk passing insects before returning to its perch._
   - _Nighthawks hawk for moths in the glow of the streetlights._
8. To hunt game by using a trained hawk to catch it.
   - Simple: To hunt other birds or small animals using a trained hawk.
   - _Medieval lords hawked herons from horseback._
   - _Falconers still hawk grouse on the northern moors._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A purely self-interested, uncooperative participant in an exchange or game, especially one who is distrustful, grasping, or treacherous, as in the Hawk-Dove game.
- (noun) Any of several dragonfly species of the genera Apocordulia and Austrocordulia, found only in Australia.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–5, 8–9** — From Middle English hauk, from Old English hafoc ("hawk"), from Proto-West Germanic *habuk and Proto-Germanic *habukaz. It is controversially traced to Proto-Indo-European *kopuǵos, perhaps ultimately from *keh₂p- ("seize"), with cognates such as Dutch havik, German Habicht, and Swedish hök.
**Meaning 10** — The origin is uncertain. One idea is Middle English hache, a "battle-axe." Another is that the bird name was simply put to a new use, much as Russian со́кол (sókol) means "falcon" yet also names a plasterer's tool.
**Meaning 2** — A back-formation from hawker.
**Meanings 6–7** — Probably imitative, like hock ("cough") and hack ("cough").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hawk (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).