[haul in one’s horns] See: PULL IN ONE’S HORNS.

[haul off]{v.} To move suddenly. — Used with "and" usually before a verb like "hit" or "kick". •/Ed hauled off and hit the other boy in the nose./ •/Lee hauled off and threw a touchdown pass./

[haul over the coals] or [rake over the coals] {v. phr.} To criticize sharply; rebuke; scold. •/The sergeant raked the soldier over the coals for being late for roll call./ Syn.: DRESS DOWN.

[have] See: CAT HAS NINE LIVES, ONE’S CAKE AND HAVE IT TOO, EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING, EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, HAVE NOTHING ON or HAVE ANYTHING ON, LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS, or an important word after this in the sentence.

[have] or [get] or [develop a crush on] {v. phr.} To be infatuated with someone. •/Walter has a terrible crush on his English teacher, but she is a lot older and doesn’t take it seriously./

[have a ball]{v. phr.}, {slang} Enjoy yourself very much; have a wonderful time. •/Johnny had a ball at camp./ •/Mary and Tim have a ball exploring the town./ •/After their parents left, the children had a ball./ Syn.: HAVE A TIME(2).

[have a bone to pick] See: BONE TO PICK.

[have a care]{v. phr.}, {formal} To be careful what you do. •/Jane, have a care what you’re doing with that valuable glass./ •/The judge told him to have a care what he said in court./

[have a field day]{v. phr.} To enjoy great success or unlimited opportunity. •/The visiting basketball team was so weak that our school had a field day scoring one point after another./

[have a finger in the pie] See: FINGER IN THE PIE.

[have a fit] or [have fits] or [throw a fit] {v. phr.} 1. To have a sudden illness with stiffness or jerking of the body. •/Our dog had a fit yesterday./ 2. {informal} To become angry or upset. •/Father will throw a fit when he sees the dent in the car./ •/Howard will have a fit when he learns that he lost the election./ •/When John decided to drop out of college, his parents had fits./

[have a go at]{v. phr.}, {informal} To try, especially after others have tried. •/Bob asked Dick to let him have a go at shooting at the target with Dick’s rifle./ •/She had a go at archery, but did not do very well./

[have a good head on one’s shoulders]{v. phr.} To be smart; intelligent; well educated. •/Rob is not the handsomest guy in the world but the girls appreciate him because he has a good head on his shoulders./

[have a (good) head for]{v. phr.} To have a special talent in a certain area. •/Joan has quite a good head for business administration./

[have a (good) mind to]{v. phr.} To consider doing; intend to with a high degree of probability. •/I have a good mind to tell my boss that he doesn’t know how to run our enterprise./

[have a hand in]{v. phr.} To have a part in or influence over; to be partly responsible for. •/Sue’s schoolmates respect her and she has a hand in every important decision made by the Student Council./ •/Ben had a hand in getting ready the Senior play./ Compare: FINGER IN THE PIE.

[have a heart]{v. phr.}, {informal} To stop being mean; be kind, generous, or sympathetic. •/Have a heart, Bob, and lend me two dollars./ •/Have a heart, Mary, and help me with this lesson./ •/He didn’t know if the teacher would have a heart and pass him./

[have a heart-to-heart talk]{v. phr.} To confide in someone with great intimacy. •/Jill and her mother had a heart-to-heart talk before she decided to move in with Andrew./

[have all one’s buttons] or [have all one’s marbles] {v. phr.}, {slang} To have all your understanding; be reasonable. — Usually used in the negative or conditionally. •/Mike acts sometimes as if he didn’t have all his buttons./ •/He would not go to town barefooted if he had all his marbles./

[have a mind of one’s own]{v. phr.} To be independent in one’s thinking and judgment. •/Tow has always had a mind of his own so there is no use trying to convince him how to vote./

[have an affair with]{v. phr.} To have a sexual relationship with someone, either before marriage or outside of one’s marriage. •/Tow and Jane had a long and complex affair but they never got married./

[have an ear for]{v. phr.} To have a keen perception; have a taste or a talent for; be sensitive to something. •/I have no ear whatsoever for foreign languages or music./

[have an ear to the ground] See: EAR TO THE GROUND.

[have an edge on]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To have an advantage over someone or something else in the course of an evaluative comparison. •/I can’t beat you at tennis, but I have an edge on you in ping-pong./ 2. To be mildly intoxicated; to have had a few drinks. •/Joe sure had an edge on when I saw him last night./ Compare: EDGE ON.

[have an eye for]{v. phr.} To be able to judge correctly of; have good taste in. •/She has an eye for color and style in clothes./ •/He has an eye for good English usage./

[have an eye on] or [have one’s eye on] {v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To look at or think about (something wanted); have a wish for; have as an aim. •/I bought ice cream, but Jimmy had his eye on some candy./ •/John has his eye on a scholarship so he can go to college./ Compare: IN MIND. 2. See: KEEP AN EYE ON(1).

[have an eye out] See: EYE OUT.

[have an eye] to See: EYE TO.

[have an itch for] or [to do] See: BE ITCHING TO.

[have a nodding acquaintance with] See: NODDING ACQUAINTANCE.

[have a price on one’s head] See: PRICE ON ONE’S HEAD.

[have a rough idea about] See: ROUGH IDEA.

[have a say in] or [a voice in] {v. phr.} To have the right to express one’s opinion or cast a vote in a pending matter. •/Our boss is friendly and democratic; he always encourages us to have a say in what we will do next./

[have a screw loose]{v. phr.}, {slang} To act in a strange way; to be foolish. •/Now I know he has a screw loose — he stole a police car this time./ •/He was a smart man but had a screw loose and people thought him odd./

[have a snowball’s chance in hell]{v. phr.} To be condemned to failure; enjoy a zero chance of success. •/Pessimists used to think that we had a snowball’s chance in hell to put a man on the moon; yet we did it in July, 1969./

[have a soft spot in one’s heart for]{v. phr.} To be sympathetically inclined towards; entertain a predilection for. •/Ron always had a soft spot in his heart for intellectual women wearing miniskirts./

[have a sweet tooth]{v. phr.} To be excessively fond of dessert items, such as ice cream, pies, etc. •/Jill has a sweet tooth; she always orders apple pie after a meal in a restaurant./

[have a time]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To have trouble; have a hard time. •/Poor Susan had a time trying to get the children to go to bed./ •/John had a time passing his math course./ 2. To have a good time; to have fun. — Used with a reflexive pronoun. •/Bob had himself a time going to every night club in town./ •/Mary had herself a time dancing at the party./ Syn.: HAVE A BALL.

[have a way with]{v. phr.} To be able to lead, persuade, or influence. •/Dave has such a way with the campers that they do everything he tells them to do./ •/Ted will be a good veterinarian, because he has a way with animals./