A dictionary of slang - "H" - Slang and colloquialisms of the UK.

habdabs	Noun. Terror, the frights, nerves. A variation on the more commonly used 'abdabs'. Also occasionally screaming habdabs.
hack (it)	Verb. To manage, cope. E.g."I'm giving up my job next week, I can't hack the stress."
hacked off	Adj. Annoyed, depressed.
hacky	Adj. Dirty, scummy. [N.E./Tyneside use]
ha ha!	Exclam. A sarcastic verbally represented laugh exclaimed at a persons attempt at wit.
hair of the dog	Noun. An alcoholic chaser which will help relieve the symptoms of a hangover, usually needed on the morning after a drinking binge. {Informal}
hair pie	Noun. 1. The vagina. [Orig. U.S.] * 2. Cunnilingus. [Orig. U.S.] * * Also hairy pie
hairy	Adj. Frightening, alarming.
hairy-arsed	Adj. Rough, primitive, unrefined, coarse. E.g."I can't imagine going out for a night at the opera with that hairy-arsed idiot."
hairy axe wound	Noun. The vagina. Cf. 'axe wound'.
hairy clam	Noun. The vagina. Cf. 'bearded clam'.
hairy eye	Noun. A contemptible or suspicious glance. An abb. of 'hairy eyeball'.
hairy eyeball	Noun. A contemptible or suspicious glance. [Orig. U.S.]
hairy muff!	Exclam. O.K., that's reasonable! A pun on fair enough. Cf 'furry muff', 'fairy snuff'.
half-arsed	Adj. Unenthusiastic, feeble, incomplete.
half-cut	Adj. Tipsy, drunk but not incapacitated. [1800s]
half-inch	Verb. To steal. Rhyming slang for 'pinch'. E.g."Yeah, I didn't have enough money so I half-inched it from my mum's purse." [1920s]
half-pissed	Adj. Drunk, but not incapacitated by alcohol.
half-sharp	Adj. Stupid, dimwitted.
half soaked	Adj. Slow witted or slow in movement, laid back. [South Wales/W. Midlands use]
hames	Noun. A mess, a shambles. E.g."She made a complete hames of that meal, by overcooking the beef and making lumpy gravy." [Irish use]
ham-fisted	Adj. Clumsy.
Hamilton Accie	Noun. Pakistani. Rhyming slang for 'paki'. Hamilton Accies, an abbreviation of Hamilton Academicals, a Scottish football team from Hamilton, S.E. of Glasgow. Offens. [Scottish use]
hammer	Verb. To take or do something to excess. E.g."I spent all yesterday hammering the booze and all last night throwing up."
hammered	Adj. 1. Totally intoxicated. [Orig. U.S.] 2. Exhausted, used to excess.
hammy	Adj. Over-theatrical. Usually applied to an actor. {Informal}
Hampsteads	Noun. Teeth. From the Cockney rhyming slang Hampstead Heath, a suburb of London. Usually heard pronounced 'ampsteads. [Mainly London use]
Hampton (wick)	Noun. The penis. Rhyming slang on 'prick'. See 'prick'.
ham shank	Noun. An act of masturbation. Rhyming slang for 'wank'. See 'wank'.
Hamsterdam	Noun. An intentionally jocular mispronunciation of Amsterdam.
handbags	Noun. A harmless altercation. Abb. of handbags at dawn, which in itself is a pun on pistols at dawn, a reference to duelling. E.g."When they discover we've spent the holiday money it's going to be handbags."
hand-job	Noun. An act of masturbation. The expression usually represents the activity given by another person. E.g."She wouldn't go all the way so she gave me a quick hand-job instead."
handle	Noun. A name, a nickname, a pseudonym, an alias. {Informal}
hand-me-downs	Noun. Items, usually clothes, passed on to younger members of a family when they are outgrown.
hand-shandy	Noun. An act of masturbation.
hang about!	Exclam. Wait a moment! Hold on!
hang a left / right	Vrb phrs. Turn left / right.
hangin'	Adj. 1. Unattractive, nasty, unsavoury. Usually pronounced 'angin'. [N.W. England use] 2. Waiting about, loitering, lingering aimlessly. Abb. of hanging about or hangin around.
hang out	Verb. To reside, to loiter, to pass the time.
hangout	Noun. A place for passing time.
hang tough	Verb. To act tough and arrogant.
hang-up	Noun. An emotional problem, a psychological disturbance. E.g."He needs counselling to sort out his hang-ups."
Hank Marvin	Adj. Starving. From the Cockney rhyming slang as starvin'.
hanky-panky	Noun. Sexual misbehaviour. [1900s]
happen	Adv. Perhaps, maybe. E.g."Happen it's going to rain this afternoon." [Northern use. Dialect]
happy as Larry	Phrs. Very happy.
happy as pig in shit	Phrs. Very contented.
happy bunny	Noun. A contented person. Usually heard used in a negative context when referring to depressed or miserable person. E.g."He's not a happy bunny, since losing his job."
happy clappy brigade	Noun. Collectively those with a very strong religious faith, who might be seen as been particularly public in their unity and preaching, such as a sect.
happy hardcore	Noun. A type of uplifting 'hardcore' (noun 2.) containing zany 'samples'. [1990s]
happy sack	Noun. The scrotum/testicles.
happy slapping	Noun. An adolescent, violent prank that involves smacking a person in the face, usually strangers, and filming the victems shocked reaction on mobile video phones. Not surprisingly in a quest for more extreme victem reactions happy slapping is increasingly becoming so aggressive that it is now viewed as physical assault. [Orig. London. 2004]
hard	Adj. Tough and unyielding, when applied to a person.
hard as fuck	Phrs. 1. Exceptionally tough and unyielding. More emphatic than 'hard', see above. 2. Very difficult. E.g."That English exam paper was hard as fuck."
hard as nails	Noun. See 'hard as fuck'.
hard-ass	Noun. A particularly aggressive person.
hardbag	Noun. In a further attempt to categorize 'house' music, this name was applied to 'handbag' tunes which had the hard quality of European 'hardhouse'. [1990s]
hard cheese!	Exclam. Hard luck! Often said cynically or sarcastically.
hardcore	Noun. 1. Explicit pornography. 2. A fast 'techno'/'rave' hybrid music, usually not having the subtleties of 'house' music. 3. A variety of 'punk' rock, characterized by its extremes. Adj. Something that is of an extreme, committed nature, such as any of the above descriptions for the noun. An obsessive follower of a band, for example, may be called a hardcore fan.
hardhead	Noun. An obstinate person.
hard-lines!	Exclam. Bad luck! See 'hard cheese!'.
hard-nut	Noun. An aggressive and tough person.
hard-on	Noun. An erect penis.
hard-shit!	Adj. Bad luck, how unfortunate. Expressed with irony or sarcasm.
hardstuff	Noun. General name for strong alcoholic drink such as spirits (whiskey, vodka, brandy etc).
harry hoofter	Noun. A homosexual male. Rhyming slang on 'poofter'. See 'poofter'. [Glasgow use?]
harry (monk)	Noun. Semen. Rhyming slang on 'spunk'.
harvest festivals	Noun. Of women's underwear, large, roomy bloomers, not briefs. A pun on the action of large underwear making sure everything is gathered in, such as is done at harvest festivals.
hash	Noun. Abb. of hashish, the drug. {Informal}
hashcake	Noun. Cake made with the added ingredients of cannabis or marijuana.
hash-head	Noun. A person who frequently or habitually uses hashish or marijuana.
hatches, matches and dispatches	Noun. Births, marriages and deaths, usually in relation to newspaper columns.
hate someone's guts	Vrb phrs. To utterly detest someone, to hate the very essence of someone. {Informal}
hatstand	Adj. Crazy, insane. Cf. 'totally hatstand' and 'completely hatstand'.
have	Verb. 1. To have sexual intercourse with. E.g."Did you have him last night or not ?" 2. To get the better of. E.g."I'll have him for doing that to your sister", or "Your new car has had a respray, it's all rusted underneath; I reckon you've been had."
have a bag on	Vrb phrs. In a bad mood, angry. [E. Midlands use]
have a bat in the cave	Vrb phrs. To have visible nasal mucus visible up a nostril. Used euphemistically.
have a bog on	Vrb phrs. To be in a bad mood. [E. Midlands use?]
have a bun in the oven	Vrb phrs. To be pregnant. E.g. "Her mother's got another bun in the oven; she's six months gone and with 7 kids already."
have a cow	Vrb phrs. To have fit of anger, emotionally lose control. Often heard in don't have a cow. [Orig U.S.]
have a dab at something	Vrb phrs. To attempt something. E.g."I had a dab at the army when I was young, but hated the discipline." [Mainly North-west use]
have a dab on	Vrb phrs. To be hot and perspiring, consequently needing to mop or dab at the excessive sweat.
have an eppy	Vrb phrs. Have a fit of fury. See 'eppy'.
have a face like...	Vrb phrs. There a numerous pejorative expressions beginning with 'have a face like.., see 'face like a...'
have a face on	Vrb phrs. To appear miserable, or annoyed. E.g."I didn't speak to Wendy all morning, she had a face on and I didn't want to be shouted out."
have a Mary	Vrb phrs. To throw a tantrum, have a fit of anger. [Manchester use?]
have a pop at (someone)	Vrb phrs. To verbally or physically attack (someone). Cf 'take a pop at (someone)'.
have arms	Vrb phrs. To fight. E.g."John's still outside, having arms with that scary looking doorman who refused him entry." [London use]
have a screw loose	Vrb phrs. To be a little insane or eccentric.
have a slate loose	Vrb phrs. To be a little insane.
have a tortoise	Vrb phrs. See 'have a turtle's head'.
have a turtle's head	Vrb phrs. Have an urgent need to defecate. E.g."Hurry up! Let me in the toilet, I've got a turtle's head!"
have a weed on	Vrb phrs. Be annoyed, angry. [Merseyside use]
have a whack at	Vrb phrs. To attempt. E.g."I had a whack at plumbing in the new kitchen sink but I didn't have the tools so paid a professional to finish the job."
have egg on one's chin	Vrb phrs. To have one's trouser flies open. Often used to warn another of this potentially embarrassing situation.
have had one's chips	Vrb phrs. To have failed, been beaten or killed. {Informal}
have it	Verb. 1. To go for it, in the sense of not holding back. E.g."We were having it last night, it was fantastic, but I can't remember a bloody thing after 3am." 2. An exclamation of encouragement, to a friend or colleague, to put everything into it. E.g."Go on my friend, have it!"
have it away	Verb. To have sexual intercourse.
have it away (on one's toes)	Verb. To escape, to run away.
have it large	Verb. Total enthusiasm and committment to enjoyment and hedonism. E.g."We were having it large last night in town, like nobody's business."
have it off	Verb. To have sexual intercourse.
have kittens	Verb. To worry to excess. E.g."No wonder she was having kittens, preparing a buffet singled handed for 150 guests."
have one in the departure lounge	Vrb phrs. To have a urgent need to defecate.
have one off the wrist	Vrb phrs. To masturbate. E.g."You wont believe who I caught last night having one off the wrist whilst watching a porn video."
have one's guts for garters	Vrb phrs. A reprimanding threat, usually to a youngster or child. E.g."If you don't tidy your room now I'll have your guts for garters."
haver	Verb. 1. To talk nonsense. [Scottish & Northern use/dialect] 2. To hesitate, to be slow in making a decision. [Scottish & Northern use/dialect]
have someone by the proverbials	Vrb phrs. To have complete power over someone. The proverbials referring to the 'short and curlies'. See 'have someone by the short and curlies'.
have someone by the short and curlies	Vrb phrs. To have complete power over someone. See short and curlies.
have the painters in	Vrb phrs. To be menstruating; a euphemism.
having a laugh (!)	Phrs./Exclam. A phrase expressed to denote incredulity at a person's statement or behaviour. Often heard pronounced in mock Cockney as 'aving a larff. E.g."You're having a laugh! There's no way I'm loaning you money with your reputation with not paying debts."
head	Noun. Oral sex. E.g."She gives good head."
head-banger	Noun. A fan of rock music, usually wearing jeans and leathers. From their habit of shaking their heads violently whilst dancing.
headcase	Noun. A lunatic, a mentally unstable person.
headfuck	Noun. Something or someone that is mentally disturbing. E.g."I'm not inviting my sister's boyfriend, he's a headfuck and he'd ruin the party."
head-honcho	Noun. Boss. The word honcho derives from the Japanese han'cho meaning group leader.
headlamps	Noun. Women's breasts.
head-the-ball	Noun. A lunatic, an idiot. [Irish/Scottish use]
headtrip	Noun. A pleasant exploration of a thought, a self-indulgent fantasy. [Orig. U.S.]
heap	Noun. A thing that is old and delapidated. Often a vehicle.
heap of shit	Noun. A disgusting or unsightly object or person. Cf. 'shit heap'
heart	Verb. To love. From the use of the heart symbol ♥ to mean love. E.g."I heart my new shoes."
heavy	Adj. 1. OK! Cool! That's very agreeable. [Mainly London use] 2. Excellent! [Mainly London use]
heavy metal	Noun. Generally, highly amplified rock music and its associated long hair and fashions.
heavy mob	Noun. A group of muscular or tough people gathered together to utilize their collective strengths.
heebie-jeebies	Noun. An uneasy or very nervous feeling.
heifer *	Noun. 1. A woman. Derog. 2. A fat woman. Derog. * From the s.e. heifer, being a young cow who hasn't had a calf.
hellhole	Noun. A thoroughly unpleasant place.
hells bells!	Exclam. An exclamation of surprise.
helmet	Noun. The head of the penis, being similar in shape.
hen	Noun. A form of address or a term of endearment such as sweetheart. [Mainly Scottish use]
hench	Adj. Of males, attractively muscular and strong. Possibly from henchman. [Orig. U.S?]
hen fruit	Noun. An egg.
hen-pecked	Adj. Under the control of a domineering female. A derogatory comment usually said of a husband.
Henry	Noun. Drug parlance for an eighth of an ounce of cannabis/marijuana. An abbreviation of Henry VIII (Henry the Eighth), a British monarch of the 1500s.
Herbert	Noun. An dull objectionable person. E.g."He's a real herbert, he watches the news and weather on TV all day."
here's looking at you!	Exclam. A drinking toast.
here's mud in your eye!	Exclam. A toast expressed before a drink. {Informal}
her indoors	Noun. One's wife.
hick	Noun. A rustic, rural dweller. Derog. [Orig. U.S.]
hickey	Noun. A love bite. Also hickie. [Orig. U.S.]
hide the salami	Vrb phrs. To have sexual intercourse. Often heard in the phrase play hide the salami. [Orig. U.S.]
hide the sausage	Vrb phrs. To have sexual intercourse. Often heard in the phrase play hide the sausage.
high	Noun. A pleasantly intoxicated state. Usually these days with regard to drug taking. {Informal}
high as a kite	Phrs. Very intoxicated by alcohol or drugs.
high five	Noun. A greeting or gesture of celebration, whereby a person raises their palms high on an outstretched arm to be slapped by another person doing the same. [Orig. U.S.]
hinglish	Noun. A hybrid language based on Hindi and English.
hinny	Noun. An affectionate form of address. 'Geordie' pronunciation of honey. [Newcastle use]
hip-hop	Noun. Dance music genre with rapping, originating from black American street culture.
hippyish	Adj. Of or like a hippy. E.g."I don't like all those beads, they're a bit hippyish."
hippy	Noun. A person who adopts the characteristic style of 1960s look with long hair, worn jeans, etc., whose rejection of conventional values is often embellished with drug taking. Often derogatory use. Adj. See 'hippyish'.
hippy lettuce	Noun. Marijuana. Also hippie lettuce.
his nibs	Noun. A jocular and mocking title given to a self-important person. {Informal}.
hissy fit	Noun. A tantrum. E.g."She had a hissy fit when I told her I'd spent all my wages on lap dancers."
hit	Noun. 1. An injection of a drug. 2. A murder or violent crime. [Orig. U.S.] Verb. To murder or rob. [Orig. U.S.]
hit and miss	Noun. Urine. Rhyming slang on 'piss'. Also see 'on the hit'.
hit for six	Vrb phrs. To deal a severe blow, to vanquish, to affect someone severely. From the game of cricket and imagery associated with it. {Informal} Cf. 'knock for six'.
hit list	Noun. A list of prospective victims.
hit the hay	Vrb phrs. Go to bed. [1900s]
hit the sack	Vrb phrs. Go to bed. [Orig. U.S.]
hit with the ugly stick	Phrs. Of a person, unnattractive. Cf 'beaten with the ugly stick'.
ho	Noun. 1. A whore, a prostitute. [Orig U.S./ Black.] 2. A contemptible woman. Used by extension of version 1., that prostitution is generally thought of as disreputable.
hock	Verb. To pawn. {Informal}
hod full	Adj. A large amount. From the building trade and a hod full of bricks. Also hodful.
hog	Noun. A powerful high handlebarred motorbike. Usually ridden by 'bikers' and 'hells-angels'.
hoick	Verb. To lift, or move, something bulky or heavy, often with a sudden movement. Also hoik. E.g."You cant hoick that piano up the stairs, you need some rope and pulleys." [Informal]
holding the folding	Vrb phrs. Having adequate cash on one's person. The folding refers to monetary notes.
hole	Noun. A despicable or undesirable place. E.g."You're welcome to come over to mine, but it's a bit of a hole."
hole in the wall	Noun. A bank's externally accessible cash dispenser, an ATM. [1970s]
hols	Noun. Abb. of holidays.
homeboy	Noun. A male friend or acquaintance. [Orig. U.S.]
homie	Noun. A friend. Also homey. [Orig. U.S.]
honeypot	Noun. The vagina.
honk	Noun. A bad smell. E.g."There's a bad honk in here, has someone broken wind?" Verb. To smell bad. E.g."It honks like shit in here, can I open a window?"
honk up	Verb. An onomatopoeia for to vomit. Occasionally shortened to honk.
honky	Noun. A white person. Generally obsolete in use, but when heard, usually jocular. Can be derog/offens. [Orig US/Black]
hooey (!)	Noun. Nonsense. Exclam. Nonsense!
hoof	Verb. To kick. E.g."At every opportunity I hoofed the ball up the pitch and away from our goal."
hoofter	Noun. A homosexual male. Cf. 'harry hoofter'. [Mainly Scottish use]
hoo-ha	Noun. A commotion, trouble, a row. E.g."There was a right hoo-ha at work yesterday when the boss was caught kissing the office cleaner."
hooky	Adj. Illegal, not legitimate.
hoolivan	Noun. A police vehicle, a van, with protective windscreen grills for use during riots and civil disobedience, against hooligans.
hoon	Noun. A lout, an irresponsible person. [Orig. Aust.]
hoon (around)	Verb. To behave irresponsibly, especially when driving. [Orig. Aust./NZ]
Hooray (Henry)	Noun. A young male of the upper classes. Often abbreviated to Hooray. E.g."I'm not going in that bar again, it was full of Hoorays drinking champagne and talking about how rich they are." Also Hurray Henry or Hurrah Henry. Derog.
hooter	Noun. 1. A nose. 2. A woman's breast. Usually in the plural. E.g."Cor! Look at the hooters on her."
hop the wag	Vrb phrs. To play truant. E.g."You see far too many school kids hopping the wag."
Horlicks	Noun. A mess. Dated expression and rarely heard. E.g."I made a complete horlicks of the situation."
horn	Noun. 1. A penile erection. 2. Sexual interest or excitement. E.g."She was so sexy, I had the horn for her all day."
horny	Adj. 1. A feeling of sexual excitement. The expression originates from the similarity between the erect penis and a horn, however it is now firmly unisexual in usage. 2. Sexually desirable. E.g."Don't you think she looks so horny in that dress?"
hospital pass	Noun. A pass in the game of football (soccer), to a team mate whose close proximity to a member of the opposition is likely to lead to that player receiving an imediate hard tackle and subsequent injuries.
hot air	Noun. Empty talk, nonsense.
hot knives	Noun. A method of smoking cannabis without the aid of tobacco. A small piece of cannabis is pressed and burnt between two 'hot knives' and the resulting smoke, after being caught in a recepticle, inhaled.
hot rocks	Noun. The red hot pieces of burning cannabis that occasionally fall from a 'joint' during its smoking.
(the) hots	Noun. A sexual desire.
hottie	Noun. 1. A hot waterbottle. {Informal} 2. A sexually attractive person. [Orig. U.S. 1990s]
hot to trot	Phrs. 1. Eager for sexual intercourse. 2. Keen to move on, to leave.
hot-wire	Verb. To start up an engine without the aid of keys.
house	Noun. A contemporary dance music epitomised by its 4/4 beat and use of 'samples'. Vocals and melodies tend not follow the verse / chorus tradition, as they are just 'samples' which need to be fitted into the 4 bar repetitive base structure. It is a descendant of disco music born in North America. Sub-genres of house include tribal, deep, Italian etc.
hovis	Adj. Dead. A progression from the rhyming slang ' brown bread', meaning dead; Hovis is a manufacturer of bread, particularly renowned for its production of brown bread. E.g."He's hovis when I catch him."
how are you diddling?	Phrs. A greeting, such as How do you do?
howay	Phrs. Let's go, or come on. [North-east use]
how goes (it)?	Phrs. A greeting.
howler	Noun. A blunder, a stupid mistake. Cf. 'schoolboy howler'. {Informal}
how's it hanging?	Exclam. How are you? Mainly a male greeting.
how's tricks?	Exclam. How are you? A greeting not necessarily requiring a direct answer.
how's your father	Noun. Sexual intercourse. E.g."I wouldn't go in the front room at the moment, I suspect your brother's having a bit of how's your father with his new girlfriend."
hoy	Verb. To throw. [Cumbria/Northumbria/Tyneside use]
hubbly (bubbly)	Noun. A waterpipe used for smoking cannabis or marijuana.
huff	Noun. A bad mood.
huggins	Adj. Many, a large amount. E.g."I got huggins of presents for my birthday." [Yorkshire use]
hum	Verb. To smell unpleasant. E.g."Don't eat that cheese, it's starting to hum." {Informal}
humongous	Adj. Very large, enormous. [Orig. U.S.]
hump	Verb. 1. To copulate. The word implies a certain insensitive awkwardness, see verb 2. 2. To shift something awkwardly. E.g."We need to hump that big wardrobe up to the attic before the new lodger arrives." Noun. 1. Sexual intercourse. 2. A bad mood. Always preceded by the. E.g."She's got the hump after being told she looks fat."
humpty	Adj. Annoyed, irritated. [Mainly Scottish use?]
hun	Noun. A protestant and more commonly a supporter of Rangers FC, as opposed to Celtic FC who have a Catholic fan base. Cf 'tim'. [Glasgow use]
hung like a horse / donkey	Phrs. Having a large penis. E.g."Apparently all the girls are saying he's hung like a donkey."
hunk	Noun. A sexually attractive and masculine male. {Informal}
hunky	Adj. Having the qualities of a 'hunk'. {Informal}
hunky-dory	Adj. O.K., fine, erring on the side of wonderful.
hunners	Noun. Many, numerous, hundreds. [Scottish use]
hurl	Verb. To vomit. Onomatopoeic as much as very descriptive of the uncontrollable force of vomiting.
hustle	Verb. 1. To obtain or produce something by aggressive means, often including deception. [Orig. U.S.] 2. To engage in prostitution. [Orig. U.S.] Noun. An illicit or unethical way to conduct businesss, or of obtaining money, a racket, a swindle. [Orig.U.S.]
hutch up	Verb. To move up, or along, thus creating space. E.g."Michael! Will you hutch up and let me sit down?"
hyped up	Verb. Over-excited, manic.
hyper	Adj. Over-excited, nervous, agitated.