Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The native screw-pine of the Hawaiian Islands, Pandanus tectorius. Coarse mats are made of the leaves.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hala.

Examples

  • O hala hala_! hands off, fair Hulda, "the Captain cried, joyfully, as Hulda had been moved to relieve the poor old woman;" no one shall assist at these ceremonies of expiation but Van Dorn himself, whose rights in Mistress Cannon are of priority.

    The Entailed Hat Or, Patty Cannon's Times George Alfred Townsend 1877

  • After all, he finds, or declares that he finds, the hala fruit he had sought to gather and to wear as a _lei_ about his neck, to be spoiled, broken, fit only to litter the road (_loli ka mu'o o ka hala_, verse 8; _A helelei ka'pua, a pili ke alanui_, verse 9).

    Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula Nathaniel Bright Emerson 1877

  • She clapped her thin hands, and a black slave girl appeared, one of those called halaïk, or "creatures."

    Paul Patoff 1881

  • The ancient crone was making a dearest-loved lei (wreath) of the fruit of the hala which is the screw-pine or pandanus of the South Pacific.

    SHIN-BONES 2010

  • The ancient crone was making a dearest-loved lei (wreath) of the fruit of the hala which is the screw-pine or pandanus of the South Pacific.

    Shin-Bones 1919

  • He sniffed disgustedly of the odour of the hala lei that stifled him.

    SHIN-BONES 2010

  • Akuli, with another apprehensive glance at the old wahine and her half-made hala lei, returned to his tale of the bones of his ancestors.

    SHIN-BONES 2010

  • Prince betray his repugnance for the odour of the hala.

    SHIN-BONES 2010

  • It is true the hala smelled most freshly strong, yet was the act beautiful to me, and the old woman herself beautiful to me.

    SHIN-BONES 2010

  • With welcome relief on his face, he removed the lei hala from his neck, and, with a sniff and a sigh, tossed it into concealment in the thick lantana by the side of the road.

    SHIN-BONES 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.