hau
1. n. a lowland tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus), found in many warm countries, some spreading horizontally over the ground forming impenetrable thickets, and some trained on trellises. The leaves are rounded and heart-shaped, the flowers cup-shaped, with five large petals that change through the day from yellow to dull-red. Formerly the light, tough wood served for outriggers of canoes, the bast for rope, the sap and flowers for medicine. (Neal 559–60). Of the two varieties of hau, a rare erect one (hau oheohe) was grown for its bast and a creeping one (hau) was planted for wind-breaks. (HP 196) 2. s. Name of a tree or large bush; the bark was sometimes beaten into a fine species of kapa called kapa hau. Laieik. 112. 3. nvs. cool,
• iced;
• ice,
• frost,
• dew, (cf. kēhau₁, dew, mist, dewdrop...)
• snow; (cf. hau kea, white snow, snow...)
• a cool breeze; to blow, of a cool breeze.
4. s. Name of the land breeze that blows at night; hence, any cool breeze; he hau kekahi makani mauka mai, un manao ia mai loko mai o ke kuahiwi kela makani. NOTE.—This word has several forms. It usually takes ke for its article instead of ka; but the ke is sometimes united with it, and then it becomes kehau. This however requires a new article, which would be ke, ke kehau; but this article also sometimes adheres to the noun, and thus requires a new article still; hence the different forms of the word: hau, kehau, and kekehau, all of which take corresponding articles. 5. s. The general name of snow, ice, frost, cold dew, &c.; i hoomanawanui ai hoi kaua i ka hau huihui o ke kakahiaka, when we two also persevered in the cold frost of the morning; hau paa, hoar frost. Puk. 16:14. In the same verse hau is rendered dew; snow. Nah. 12:10. 6. to hit, smite, beat, tap. 7. to lay before; to offer, as a sacrifice or prayer. 8. n. a soft porous stone, as used for polishing calabashes. 9. Name of a species of soft porous stone. 10. n. mother-of-pearl shell. 11. placename. street, Kalihi Kai, Honolulu. TM. lit.:Hibiscus tiliaceus. 12. v. To swallow; to gulp down, as the smoke of tobacco. 13. To inhale; to snuff up, as the wind. Ier. 2:24. 14. To snort, as a horse. Ier. 8:16. 15. The rough bristles of a hog when angry; huhu ka puaa. ku ka hau; hence, 16. Anger; applied figuratively to men; 17. A kind of dance used for lascivious purposes, accompanied by singing.
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497
Hau wawā ka nahele.
A din in the forest.
[Rumors and gossip abroad.]
1301
Ka hau hoʻokuakea ʻili.
The snow that bleaches the skin.
[Living in a land where it snows was believed to lighten the skin.]
1403
Ka ʻili hau pā kai o ʻAlio.
The hau bark, wet by the sea sprays of ʻAlio.
[This is a reference to a strong shore-dweller. Salt air and sea sprays made the bark of the hau trees on the shore stronger than those of the upland. ʻAlio is a place on Kauaʻi.]
1457
Ka makani haʻihaʻi lau hau o Olowalu.
The hau-leaf tearing wind of Olowalu.
[A gusty wind.]
1744
Kekeʻe hau o Maʻalo.
Crooked are the hau trees of Maʻalo.
[A humorous saying. The hau grove of Maʻalo, Maui, was known as a place for illicit love affairs.]
1754
Ke kololio ka hau o uka, kō mai ka nae ʻaʻala o ke kiele.
When the dew-laden breeze of the upland creeps swiftly down it brings with it the fragrance of the gardenias.
[Said of one who comes with happy tidings.]
1792
Kīʻililī ka pua hau o Kalena.
The hau blossoms of Kalena squat.
[Said of pretty young women who squat and do nothing — they are good lookers but not good workers. A play on lena (lazy) in Kalena.]
2118
Mālama o ʻike i ke kaula ʻili hau o Kailua.
Take care lest you feel the hau-bark rope of Kailua.
[Take care lest you get hurt. When braided into a rounded rope, hau bark is strong, and when used as a switch it can be painful.]
2687
Poliʻahu, ka wahine kapa hau anu o Mauna Kea.
Poliʻahu, the woman who wears the snow mantle of Mauna Kea.
[Poliʻahu is the goddess of snows; her home is on Mauna Kea.]