Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A thick cushion used as a footstool or for kneeling.
- noun A dense clump of grass.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
haslock . - noun Coarse grass which grows in rank tufts on boggy ground; especially, the large sedge, Carex paniculata, the dried tufts of which were used in churches for footstools.
- noun A besom; anything bushy; also, a large round turf used as a seat.
- noun A thick hard cushion used as a footstool or in place of a kneeling-bench.
- noun Kentish ragstone. Also written
hassack .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A rank tuft of bog grass; a tussock.
- noun A small stuffed cushion or footstool, for kneeling on in church, or for home use.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A thick cushion used as a
seat ; anottoman orpouffe .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun thick cushion used as a seat
- noun a cushion for kneeling on (as when praying in church)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Cowboy Jack called a "hassock" -- a low seat -- and studying a paper he had found.
Six Little Bunkers at Cowboy Jack's Laura Lee Hope
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Edwin's slippered feet rested on a hassock, and in front of the hassock was a red-glowing gas-stove.
Clayhanger Arnold Bennett 1899
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They then form a ring, and commence dancing round a hassock which is placed, end upward, in the middle of the room.
My Book of Indoor Games Clarence Squareman
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They then form a ring, and commence dancing round a hassock which is placed, end upwards, in the middle of the room.
Games For All Occasions Mary E. Blain
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Violently, he kicks a hassock which is above the table_ R. _to under the table_ C.,
Belinda 1919
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Mrs. Rolls's small, plump feet in cheap Japanese slippers rested upon a "hassock" on whose covering reposed (in worsted) a black spaniel with blue high lights.
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_Ottoman_: A kind of hassock or thick mat for kneeling upon; so-called from being used by the Ottomans or Turks.
American Woman's Home Harriet Beecher Stowe 1853
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_Ottoman_, a kind of hassock, or thick mat, for kneeling upon; so called, from being used by the Ottomans or Turks.
A Treatise on Domestic Economy For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School Catharine Esther Beecher 1839
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"Well, besides the words calling the hassock an all-purpose something, there are numbers.
The Norby Chronicles Asimov, Janet & Asimov, Isaac 1983
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"Of course you're quite right about our being left with an improbability at best, the open book and the hassock could be a matter of a minute of two.
Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet Kemelman, Harry 1976
heypacksees commented on the word hassock
A legless Ottoman.
May 29, 2010