Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The neck; the throat.
  • To fall upon the neck of; embrace.
  • noun An obsolete form of hawse.
  • Same as hawse.
  • To greet; salute; hail.
  • To beseech; adjure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To embrace about the neck; to salute; to greet.
  • transitive verb obsolete To adjure; to beseech; to entreat.
  • transitive verb obsolete To haul; to hoist.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb obsolete To fall upon the neck of; embrace.
  • noun anatomy, archaic The neck; the throat.
  • verb transitive To greet; salute; hail.
  • verb transitive To beseech; adjure.
  • noun Alternative form of hawse.
  • verb obsolete To haul; to hoist.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English halsen, halchen, from Old English *halsian, *healsian ("to embrace", literally "to fall upon the neck of"), from heals ("neck"). See above. Cognate with Old Saxon helsjen ("to embrace"), Old High German halsōn (German halsen ("to jibe")), Icelandic hálsa ("to embrace").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English hals, from Old English heals ("neck, prow of a ship"), from Proto-Germanic *halsaz (“neck”), from Proto-Indo-European *kols-, *ḱols- (“neck”). Cognate with Dutch hals ("neck"), German Hals ("neck, throat"), Swedish hals ("neck, throat"), Latin collum ("neck").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English halsen, halsien ("to beseech, adjure"), from Old English healsian, hālsian ("to entreat earnestly, beseech, implore"), from Proto-Germanic *hailesōnan (“to greet”), from Proto-Indo-European *kailo-, *kailu- (“whole, safe”). Cognate with Middle High German heilsen ("to predict"), Swedish helsa ("to greet"), Icelandic heilsa ("to salute"). More at whole, hailse.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English hals ("neck"), from Old Norse háls ("neck, part of the forecastle or bow of a ship"), from Proto-Germanic *halsaz (“neck”). See Etymology 1. Cognate with Danish hals ("neck, tack").

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