wehe
1. vt. • to open, untie, undo, loosen, undress, uncover, unfasten, unlock, unfurl, unsheath, unwrap, unhook,
• to take off, as clothes;
• to take apart, as a machine;
• to unfix, as a bayonet;
• to tip, as a hat;
• to solve, as a problem;
• exorcise; to cleanse of defilement, remove, forgive, satisfy (see ex., kīkīpani₁).
• [to turn on water in a pipe NKE]
2. vt. to open, remove. 3. vt. to open, as a file in a computer program. Niʻihau. 4. v. To open, as a door; to open, as the dawn or advance of light in the morning; a wehe ae la ke alaula o ke ao, pau ka pouli. 5. To uncover what is covered up; to uncover, as the head. Oihk. 10:6. To uncover for illicit purposes. Oihk. 18:6, 7. 6. To strip off the clothes from one. 7. To open, as the eyes. fig. To open, as the heart. 8. To open, as a well or cave. Ios. 10:22. 9. To open, as a book; to unfold, as a scroll. Neh. 8:5. 10. To loosen; to untie, as a string or rope. 11. To disregard or disbelieve one's word. 12. To reject a favor. NOTE.—The passive is sometimes written wehea instead of weheia. 13. s. An opening; an untying; a solving, as a problem; an explanation of a difficulty. 14. adj. Opened; separated; loosened. 15. vi. to go away.
(13)
388
E wehe i ka umauma i ākea.
Open out the chest that it may be spacious.
[Be generous and kind to all.]
1231
I lima nō ka ua, wehe ʻē ke pulu o lalo.
While the rain is still in the sky, clear the field below.
[In dry places, farmers cleared the fields when they saw signs of rain so the water would soak the earth.]
1451
Ka Maʻaʻa wehe lau niu o Lele.
The Maʻaʻa wind that lifts the coco leaves of Lele.
[Lele is the old name for Lahaina, Maui.]
1469
Ka makani wehe lau niu o Laupāhoehoe.
The coconut-leaf-lifting wind of Laupāhoehoe.
[Laupāhoehoe, Hawai’i.]
1516
Ka ō ʻole i ka wehe a ka Hoʻolua.
No stopping when the Hoʻolua wind opens up.
[Said of anything that can’t be stopped.]
2179
Mōhala ka pua, ua wehe kaiao.
The blossoms are opening, for dawn is breaking.
[One looks forward with joy to a happy event.]
2922
Wehe ʻia ma luna o Hīhīmanu.
Bared on the summit of Hīhīmanu.
[A humorous reference to a person whose bald head is fringed with hair — like a bare mountaintop above a circle of mist.]
2923
Wehe i ka mākāhā i komo ka iʻa.
Open the sluice gate that the fish may enter.
[This was uttered by Kaleopuʻupuʻu, priest of Kahekili, after the dedication of the heiau of Kaluli, at Pu’uohala on the north side of Wailuku, Maui. A second invasion from Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaiʻi was expected, and the priest declared that they were now ready to trap the invaders, like fish inside a pond. The saying refers to the application of strategy to trap the enemy.]
2924
Wehe ka piko lā, e ka hoahānau.
Undone is the navel string, O kinsman.
[A family relation is severed. Said by Keopuolani to Kekuaokalani when she attempted to quell a rebellion, meaning that the tie of kinship between the two cousins, Liholiho and Kekuaokalani, was being severed by the latter’s refusal to be reconciled.]
2925
Wehe ke akule i ka hohonu.
The akule fish takes off to the deep.
[Said of one who removes himself from the scene of trouble.]
2926
Wehe ʻo Uahi.
Uahi went off.
[Said of one who is quickly gone from sight, like the smoke (Uahi) from the stack of a fast-moving ship.]
2927
Wehe pau i ka hohonu.
Took off to the depths.
[Said of one who goes and forgets to return, like fish going off to the deep sea.]