kaha
1. nvt. • to scratch, engrave,
• to draw, sketch;
• to mark, check, checkmark,
• punctuation or other mark, as an accent mark;
• to give a grade or mark to; a grade, as in school;
• a line in mathematics;
• cut, cut open or slice lengthwise, as fish or animals;
• to operate, as on the sick;
• stripe, as in the flag or of enlisted men in the Armed Forces;
• long striped cloth.
2. n. line. seehuinakaha, straight angle, i.e. an angle that has a measure of 180°, in math. 3. v. To scratch; to make marks; to write; to make marks indefinitely. 4. To cut; to hew, as timber. 5. To cut open, as a fish or animal; to rip open, as the belly of a person. Amos 1:13. 6. s. A scratch; a mark; a letter. 7. In mathematics, a line. 8. loc.n. place (often followed by a qualifier, as kahakai, kahaone, kahawai, and used without ke, as hele i kahakai, go to the beach); in legends, a hot dry shore. PH 74, 84; FS 173. 9. A strip of barren land on the sea shore; hence, 10. Barren land anywhere where upland kalo will not grow, but the people depend on another place. 11. The channel of a small stream. seekahawai and kahakai. 12. vi. • to swoop, as a kite;
• to be poised, soar, as a bird (less used than kīkaha);
• to go by, pass by,
• to turn and go on;
• to surf, body surf.
13. vi. to drive, in basketball. 14. To turn about and go away; to go off; to set out to go. Laieik. 67. 15. v. To stand sideways; to stand up on the edge like the comb of a cock; to tread water; to swim standing up. Laieik. 92. 16. vt. • to desolate,
• plunder,
• cheat.
17. Hoo. To seize; to take with one's knowledge, but without his consent; to rob; to take what is another's. seehookaha, an extortion. seemakaha. 18. To land or be thrown on the shore from the surf without a surf-board. 19. fig. To press the land on the back, as when one lands on shore in the surf; e kaha i ka nalu; hence the proverbial expression, ua kaha aku la ka nalu o kuu aina, means (lit. The surf has pressed upon my land) to have a famine for land, i. e., to press, to squeeze the people for food. 20. Robbery; plunder; rapine; oppression. 21. n. stage of a foetus in which limbs begin to develop. 22. vs. proud, haughty. Seehoʻokahakaha. 23. n. a kind of tapa. 24. s. A kind of paper or cloth. 25. v. To be fat; to be plump; to be full, as a well-fed animal. Kin.41:2. 26. s. Largeness; fatness; plumpness; aohe io o ke kaha. 27. The crack of a whip; the report of a pistol.
(15)
650
He kaha luʻu ke ala, mai hoʻokolo aku.
The trail leads to a diving place; do not follow after.
[A warning to leave well enough alone.]
1018
Hōʻaleʻale Mānā i ke kaha o Kaunalewa.
Mānā ripples over the land of Kaunalewa.
[Said of the movements of a dance. A play on ʻaleale (to ripple like water), referring to the gestures of the hands, and lewa (to sway), referring to the movement of the hips.]
1285
Kaha akula ka nalu o kuʻu ʻāina.
The surf of my land has swept everything away.
[A retort to one who boasts about the value and beauty of his own land.]
1287
Kaha Kaʻena me he manu lā i ka mālie.
Kaʻena Point poises as a bird in the calm.
[This is a line in a chant by Hiʻiaka praising Kaʻena Point, Oʻahu.]
1288
Kaha ka ʻio i ka mālie.
The ʻio bird poises in the calm.
[Said in admiration of a handsome person. An ʻio dips gracefully as it flies, with wings that flap slowly.]
1643
Ka wahine hele lā o Kaiona, alualu wai liʻulā o ke kaha pua ʻōhai.
The woman, Kaiona, who travels in the sunshine pursuing the mirage of the place where the ʻōhai blossoms grow.
[Kaiona was a goddess of Kaʻala and the Waiʻanae Mountains. She was a kind person who helped anyone who lost his way in the mountains by sending a bird, an ʻiwa, to guide the lost one out of the forest. In modern times Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop was compared to Kaiona in songs.]
1713
Ke kaha ʻai ʻole a ʻīloli.
The foodless place, ʻĪloli.
[ʻĪloli, Molokaʻi, was said to be a place where no food could be grown because of its lack of moisture.]
1714
Ke kaha ʻōhai o Kaiona.
Kaiona s place where the ʻōhai grows.
[Kaiona is a benevolent goddess whose home is Mt. Kaʻala and vicinity. The ʻōhai grew in profusion there. Because of her graciousness, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop was compared to this goddess in songs.]
1715
Ke kaha pili a ka iʻa kea.
The beach where the white fish are always around.
[A woman around whom white men gather like fish.]
1724
Ke kai kaha nalu o Makaiwa.
The surfing of Makaiwa.
[Famous is the surf of Makaiwa at Wailua, Kauaʻi, enjoyed by the native chiefs and royal guests from the other islands.]
1750
Ke koaʻe lele kaha i ka pali o Līloa.
The tropic bird that soars to the cliff of Līloa.
[Said of a chief of high rank.]
2136
Mānā kaha kua welawela.
Mānā where the back feels the heat [of the sun].
[Refers to Mānā, Kauaʻi.]
2478
Ola akula ka ʻāina kaha, ua pua ka lehua i kai.
Life has come to the kaha lands for the lehua blooms are seen at sea.
[“Kaha lands” refers to Kekaha, Kona, Hawaiʻi. When the season for deep-sea fishing arrived, the canoes of the expert fishermen were seen going and coming.]
2620
Peʻa nā lima i ke kaha o Kaupeʻa.
Crossed his hands bchind him on the land of Kaupeʻa.
[Met with disappointment. To see someone with his hands crossed behind his back [opea kua) was a sign of bad luck.]
2879
ʻUnu mai a hoʻonuʻanuʻa ke kilu o Kalamaʻula, hoʻoleʻaleʻa i ke kaha o Kaunalewa.
Bring all the kilu for amusement at Kalamaʻula to make merry on the field of Kaunalewa.
[To come together for a gay time and bring whatever you have to add to the fun. There is a play on lewa, whieh refers to the swinging of the hips in hula.]