awa
1. n. port, harbor, cove; channel or passage, as through a reef. 2. s. A harbor; a landing place; an entrance between two reefs; he awao Kou ma Oahu, he awa ku moku; he nui na awa hookomo waa, there is the harbor of Kou on Oahu where ships anchor. 3. n. milkfish (Chanos chanos). Stages of growth are pua awa (puawa), young; awa ʻaua, medium size; awa, commercial size; awa kalamoho, very large. 4. A species of fish. 5. n. port, as in a computer. 6. v. To converse earnestly. 7. s. Name of a plant, of a bitter acrid taste, from which an intoxicating drink is made. 8. The name of the liquor itself expressed from the root of the plant; the drinking of awa causes the skin to crack and flake off for a time; i ka manawa e inu ai kekahi i ka awa, he maikai kona ili ke nana aku; a mahope, mahuna ka ili, nakaka, puehoeho, inoino loa ke nana aku. 9. Bitterness, from the name of the plant. 10. s. Fine rain; mist; he ua awa, ma ka mauna ia ua.
(8)
239
ʻAukuʻu kiaʻi awa.
Heron that watches the harbor.
[A spy.]
769
He loko kapu ia, he awa ka iʻa noho; eia kā ua komo ʻia e ke ʻā kōkokī.
It was a pond reserved only for awa fish, but now a bait-stealing ʻā fish has gotten into it.
[A woman who is the wife of a fine man of chiefly rank is now having an affair with a worthless scamp.]
1023
Hoʻi akula kaʻōpua i ke awa lau o Puʻuloa.
The horizon cloud has gone back to the lochs of Puuloa.
[He has gone home to stay, like the horizon clouds that settle in their customary places.]
1402
Kaikoʻo ke awa, popoʻi ka nalu, ʻaʻohe ʻike ʻia ka poʻe nāna i heʻe ka nalu.
The harbor is rough, the surf rolls, and the rider of the surf cannot be seen.
[A stormy circumstance with uncertain results.]
1684
Ke awa haulani o Māhukona.
The restless harbor of Māhukona.
[Poets refer also to the surging (hanupanupā) waves of Māhukona.]
1685
Ke awa laʻi lulu o Kou.
The peaceful harbor of Kou.
[Honolulu Harbor.]
1686
Ke awa lau o Puʻuloa.
The many-harbored sea of Puuloa.
[Puʻuloa is an early name for Pearl Harbor.]
2486
Ola ke awa o Kou i ka ua Waʻahila.
Life comes to the harbor of Kou because of the Waʻahila rain.
[It is the rain of Nuʻuanu that gives water to Kou (now central Honolulu).]