[gun] See: BIG CHEESE or BIG GUN, GIVE IT THE GUN or GIVE HER THE GUN, GREAT GODFREY or GREAT GUNS, JUMP THE GUN, SON OF A GUN, STICK TO ONE’S GUNS or STAND BY ONE’S GUNS, TILL THE LAST GUN IS FIRED or UNTIL THE LAST GUN IS FIRED.

[gun for]{v.}, {informal} 1. To hunt for with a gun; look hard for a chance to harm or defeat. •/The cowboy is gunning for the man who stole his horse./ •/Bob is gunning for me because I got a higher mark than he did./ 2. To try very hard to get. •/The man is gunning for first prize in the golf tournament./

[gung-ho]{adj.}, {colloquial} Enthusiastic, full of eagerness in an uncritical or unsophisticated manner. •/Suzie is all gung-ho on equal rights for women, but fails to see the consequences./

[gut feeling]{n. phr.} An instinctive reaction. •/I have a gut feeling that they will never get married in spite of all they say./

[gut reaction]{n. phr.} A mental or physical response that springs from one’s depths. •/My gut reaction was to get out of here as fast as possible./

[gut talk]{n. phr.} Sincere, honest talk. •/We admire people who speak gut talk and tell exactly what they think and feet./

[guts] See: HATE ONE’S GUTS, HAVE THE GUTS TO DO SOMETHING.

[guy] See: REGULAR GUY, WISE GUY.

[hackle] See: RAISE HACKLES or RAISE ONE’S HACKLES.

[had as soon] or [had as lief] See: AS SOON.

[had better] or [had best] {informal} Should; must. •/I had better leave now, or I’ll be late./ •/If you want to stay out of trouble, you had best not make any mistakes. / •/Jim decided he had better do his homework instead of playing ball./

[had rather] or [had sooner] {v.} To choose to (do one thing instead of another thing); like better to; would prefer to. — Used with an infinitive without "to". •/My aunt invited me to the movies, but I said I had rather go on a picnic with the girls./ •/I had sooner live in the city than on a farm./

[hall] See: WITHIN CALL or WITHIN HAIL.

[hail-fellow-well-met(1)]{adj. phr.} Talking easily and in a friendly way to everyone you meet. •/John won the election as class president because he was hail-fellow-well-met./

[hail-fellow-well-met(2)]{n. phr.} A good friend and companion; buddy; pal. •/John just moved to town but he and the boys in the neighborhood are already hail-fellows-well-met./

[hail from]{v.}, {informal} To have your home in; come from; be from; especially, to have been born and raised in. •/Mrs. Gardner hails from Mississippi./ •/Mr. Brown and Mr. White are old friends because they both hail from the same town./

[hair] See: CURL ONE’S HAIR, GET GRAY HAIR or GET GRAY, GIVE GRAY HAIR, HANG BY A THREAD or HANG BY A HAIR, HIDE OR HAIR or HIDE NOR HAIR, IN ONE’S HAIR, LET ONE’S HAIR DOWN, OUT OF ONE’S HAIR, SPLIT HAIRS, TEAR ONE’S HAIR.

[haircut place]{n.}, {slang}, {citizen’s band radio jargon} Bridge or overpass with tight clearance. •/Are we going to make it in that haircut place?/

[hairdo]{n.} Style or manner of arranging, combing, or wearing one’s hair. •/"How do you like my new hairdo?" Jane asked, as she left the beauty parlor./

[hair stand on end]{informal} The hair of your head rises stiffly upwards as a sign or result of great fright or horror. •/When he heard the strange cry, his hair stood on end./ •/The sight of the dead man made his hair stand on end./ Compare: BLOOD RUN COLD, HEART IN ONE’S MOUTH, HEART STAND STILL, JUMP OUT OF ONE’S SKIN, SPINE-CHILLING.

[hale and hearty]{adj. phr.} In very good health; well and strong. •/Grandfather will be 80 years old tomorrow, but he is hale and hearty./ •/That little boy looks hale and hearty, as if he is never sick./

[half] See: GO HALVES, GO OFF HALF-COCKED also GO OFF AT HALF COCK, IN HALF, SIX OF ONE AND HALF-A-DOZEN OF THE OTHER, TIME AND A HALF, TOO-BY HALF.

[half a chance] or [a half chance] {n.} An opportunity; a reasonable chance. •/Just give yourself half a chance and you will quickly get used to your new job./

[half a loaf is better than none] or [half a loaf is better than no bread] Part of what we want or need is better than nothing. — A proverb. •/Albert wanted two dollars for shoveling snow from the sidewalk but the lady would only give him a dollar. And he said that half a loaf is better than none./ Compare: BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

[half a mind] also [half a notion] {n. phr.}, {informal} A wish or plan that you have not yet decided to act on; a thought of possibly doing something. — Used after "have" or "with" and before "to" and an infinitive. •/I have half a mind to stop studying and walk over to the brook./ •/Jerry went home with half a mind to telephone Betty./

[half-and-half(1)]{adj.} As much one thing as the other. •/We asked the coach if more boys than girls were interested in debating, and he said it was about half-and-half./ •/The show last night was neither very good nor very poor — just half-and-half./ Compare: FIFTY-FIFTY.

[half-and-half(2)]{n.} A mixture of milk and cream in equal parts, used with cereal or coffee. •/John uses half-and-half with his cereal, but his wife, who is dieting, uses milk./

[half an eye]{n. phr.} A slight glance; a quick look. •/The substitute teacher could see with half an eye that she was going to have trouble with the class./ •/While Mary was cooking she kept half an eye on the baby to see that he didn’t get into mischief./

[half bad] See: NOT BAD.

[half-baked]{adj.}, {informal} Not thought out or studied thoroughly; not worth considering or accepting. •/We wish Tom would not take our time at meetings to offer his half-baked ideas./ •/We cannot afford to put the government in the hands of people with half-baked plans./

[half-hearted]{adj.} Lacking enthusiasm or interest. •/Phil made several half-hearted attempts to learn word processing, but we could see that he didn’t really like it./

[half-holiday]{n.} A day on which you get out of school or work in the afternoon. •/The principal said that Tuesday would be a half-holiday./

[half the battle]{n. phr.} A large part of the work. •/When you write an essay for class, making the outline is half the battle./ •/To see your faults and decide to change is half the battle of self-improvement./

[half-time]{n.} A rest period in the middle of certain games. •/I saw Henry at the football game and I went over and talked to him at half-time./ •/The pep squad put on a drill at half-time when we played basketball with our old rivals./

[halfway] See: GO HALFWAY or MEET ONE HALF-WAY or GO HALFWAY TO MEET ONE.

[halt] See: CALL A HALT, GRIND TO A HALT.

[ham actor]{n. phr.}, {slang} An untalented actor; someone who tries so hard to act that his performance becomes foolishly exaggerated. •/Fred is a ham actor who, instead of memorizing his lines, keeps moving around in a ridiculous way./

[ham-handed]{adj.}, {slang} 1. Having very large hands. •/Pete is a big, ham-handed man who used to be a football player./ 2. See: HEAVY-HANDED.

[ham it up]{v. phr.}, {slang} To do more than look natural in acting a part; pretend too much; exaggerate. •/When Tom told the teacher he was too sick to do homework, he really hammed it up./ •/The old-fashioned movies are funny to us because the players hammed it up./ Compare: LAY IT ON.