Meaning & use
hem and haw
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Meanings
verbintransitiveinformal
to speak in an unsure way, pausing and avoiding a clear answer.
Grammar: No object; it describes how someone speaks: he hemmed and hawed for a minute.
Patterns
- hem and haw about something
- hem and haw over something
- hem and haw before doing something
When I asked if he had finished the report, he hemmed and hawed and changed the subject.
Stop hemming and hawing and just tell me whether you want the job.
She hemmed and hawed over the price for so long that the seller walked away.
verbintransitiveinformal
to take a long time to decide, showing hesitation rather than a plain yes or no.
Grammar: Often used with over or about plus the thing being decided: they hemmed and hawed over the date.
Patterns
- hem and haw over something
- hem and haw about doing something
The committee hemmed and hawed about the budget until the meeting ran out of time.
Buyers hemmed and hawed, so we lowered the asking price.
Word forms
| third person singular | hems and haws |
|---|---|
| past tense | hemmed and hawed |
| past participle | hemmed and hawed |
| -ing form | hemming and hawing |
Common combinations
- hem and haw about
- He hemmed and hawed about his plans for the weekend.
- hem and haw over
- They hemmed and hawed over which restaurant to choose.
- keep hemming and hawing
- If you keep hemming and hawing, we will miss the train.
- after much hemming and hawing
- After much hemming and hawing, she finally agreed to speak.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hesitate
- Neutral and general; it can mean a brief pause, while hem and haw suggests longer, more evasive talk.
- stall
- Focuses on deliberately delaying an answer; hem and haw is more about sounding unsure.
- equivocate
- Formal and means using vague language on purpose; hem and haw is informal and often unintentional.
Opposites
Commonly confused: hem and haw or hum and haw?
hem and haw vs hum and haw
A less common British variant of the same phrase; hem and haw is the usual form in both British and American English.
Practice
Which sentence uses "hem and haw" correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is intransitive, so it takes a preposition such as about or over before the thing involved. Option 0 wrongly gives it a direct object, and options 2 and 3 use grammar that does not fit this fixed phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hem and haw”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.