Hod

/hɒd/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A three-sided box mounted on a pole for carrying bricks, mortar, or other construction materials over the shoulder.
  • Grammar: hod is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: bricklayer helper, container, defecation, dish.
  • Usage evidence: Hod did you like your trip to Algeria?

How to use "hod"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hod" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hod" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hod" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hod" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "hod" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "bricklayer helper" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "hod", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A three-sided box mounted on a pole for carrying bricks, mortar, or other construction materials over the shoulder.

    "Oiſeau: […] a Hodd; the Tray vvherein Maſons, &c, carrie their Mortar."

  2. 2
    Abbreviation of head of department. abbreviation, alt-of
  3. 3
    an open box attached to a long pole handle; bricks or mortar are carried on the shoulder wordnet
  4. 4
    The amount of material held by a hod (sense 1); a hodful.

    "[T]he women do the hardest work—carry hods of mortar, unload vessels, drive oxen, &c. …"

  5. 5
    A blowpipe used by a pewterer.

    "The pewterers employ a very peculiar modification of the blowpipe, which may be called the hot-air blast, and the names for which apparatus are no less peculiar; a fig. 313, being called the hod, and b, the gentleman. The first is a common cast-iron pot with a close cover, containing ignited charcoal; two nozzles lead into and from it, to allow the passage of a stream of air, through the pipe c, from bellows worked by the foot."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    A bookmaker's bag.

    "'Clerking' is perhaps the most difficult and most admired job on a racecourse. The next time you see a bookmaker at his hod, waving his ticket-filled hands, shouting the odds, look to his left, just back a bit—out of the limelight. The bloke sitting there with his head buried deep in a ledger is the clerk."

  2. 7
    A receptacle for carrying coal, particularly one shaped like a bucket which is designed for loading coal or coke through the door of a firebox. US, dialectal

    "[…] Fanny, forgetful of her young-ladyism and her sixteen years, had boxed Tom's ears, and Tom, resenting the insult, had forcibly seated her in the coal-hod, where he held her with one hand while he returned the compliment with the other."

Verb
  1. 1
    To bob up and down on horseback, as an inexperienced rider may do; to jog. Scotland, intransitive, obsolete

    "To have caught young wild ducks—a dozen— / So we "hodded" them in a hat to town, / To get them "pot-luck"—at least a "shake down," / With some tame, domestic cousin."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative form of Höðr. alt-of, alternative

Synonyms

All synonyms
bricklayer helpercontainerdefecationdishhand toolhod carrier

Example

"Hod did you like your trip to Algeria?"

Common questions

What does "hod" mean?

A three-sided box mounted on a pole for carrying bricks, mortar, or other construction materials over the shoulder.

What is a synonym for "hod"?

Common synonyms include: bricklayer helper, container, defecation, dish, hand tool, hod carrier.

How do you use "hod" in a sentence?

Hod did you like your trip to Algeria?

How do you pronounce "hod"?

Pronounced /hɒd/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Scots hod (“to jog along on horseback”), probably related to hotch (“(verb) to move up and down jerkily, bob; to jog along on horseback; to hop like a frog; to fidget; to shrug; to heave with laughter; to cause to move jerkily; to shift in a sitting position to make room for others; to be overrun with; to swarm; (figuratively) to be angry; (noun) a jerk, jolt; a shrug; a fidget, twitch; a swarm of vermin; large, ungainly woman; untidy woman (figuratively) a hostile encounter, clash; state of disorder and filth, mess”) (whence English hotch (“to move irregularly up and down; to swarm”) (chiefly Scotland)), from Late Middle English hotchen (“to move jerkily, jolt; to attack (someone) (?)”), from Anglo-Norman hocher (“to shake (something) to and fro, jostle; to attack”) and Middle French hocher, Middle French, Old French hochier (“to shake (something) to and fro, jostle; to be unstable or wobbly, shake”) (modern French hocher (“to nod the head”)), from Frankish *hotsōn, *hottisōn, from *hottōn (“to shake; to toss”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hud- (“to shake”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ket- or *kwēt- (“to rock back and forth; to shake”), probably originally onomatopoeic. Compare Scots hotter (“(verb) to move in a jerky, uneven manner; to jolt; to shake; to walk unsteadily, totter; to shiver, shudder; to shake (with laughter); of liquid, etc.: to boil, bubble, seethe, sputter; to crowd, swarm; (noun) jolting or shaking; rattling sound; bubbling of boiling liquid; a shake, shiver; crowd, seething mass; motion or noise of such a crowd; jumbled heap”)). Cognates * Middle Dutch hutsen (modern Dutch hutsen (“to jog, jolt; to shake”)), Middle Dutch hotsen (modern Dutch hotsen, hossen (“to shake or swing to and fro; to run quickly”)) * German hotzen (“to shake or swing to and fro; to run quickly”) (Southern Germany) * Low German hūdern (“to shake; to shudder”) * Middle High German hozzen (“act of swinging someone to and fro to punish them (?)”) * Old English hūdenian (“to rock back and forth, shake, sway”)

Etymology 2

Probably an alteration of hot (“(Northern England, Scotland) large basket for carrying earth, etc.”), from Middle English hott, hote, hotte (“large basket or pannier for carrying earth, etc.; unit of measure for grain; hut or shed (perhaps originally of wattlework); lump of dirt (?)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman and Old French hote, hotte (“large basket carried on the back”) (modern French hotte (“carrying basket”)), from Frankish *hotta (“basket”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *hud- (“to shake”) (see further at etymology 1), ultimately an onomatopoeia of the swaying movement of such a basket (compare Middle Dutch hotten (“to jolt; shake”)). Cognates German Hotte (“wooden basket carried on the back; (specifically) basket for collecting grapes from a vineyard”) (Rhineland, Swabia), Hutte (“basket for collecting grapes from a vineyard”) (Alsace, Switzerland) Late Latin hotta, hottus (“hod”)

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