how

Adverb

how (not comparable)

1. (interrogative, degree) To what degree or extent.
   • How often do you practice?
   • The gauge indicated how hot the oven was.
2. (interrogative) In what manner
   • Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.[…]But as a foundation for analysis it is highly subjective: it rests on difficult decisions about what...2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
3. (interrogative) By what means.
   • How do you solve this puzzle? –Sorry, I can't remember how.
   • How else can we get this finished?

   Synonyms:

   wherewithal, wherein

4. (interrogative) With overtones of why, for what reason.
   • How should I know whether he likes raisins or not? Ask him!
5. (interrogative) In what form, shape, measure, quantity, etc.
   • How are you fixed for money?
   • How did you vote in the last election?
6. (interrogative) With what meaning or effect.
   • How the stock market interprets events has real consequences.
   • A heap of stamps? Yes. Stamps they were indeed, hundreds of penny Queen's Heads neatly mounted on the original sheets. "Good God!" exclaimed Mr. Erskine as he turned to Mr. Sackville, "how am I to take this, sir?" said he severely. "Where are the real stamps? Were they ever inside, ever in your...1906, Gibbons Stamp Weekly, page 110
7. (interrogative) By what title or what name.
   • "How art thou called? Thy name make known; Thy father's name and family,—tell me thy father's and thine own."1907, Edward Byles Cowell, The Jātaka: Or, Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, page 44
   • Salutation—How does one address the recipient; what titles, greetings, and honorifics are preferred; how does one manage the problem of unknown gender;[…]2015, Edmond H. Weiss, The Elements of International English Style: A Guide to Writing Correspondence, Reports, Technical Documents, and Internet Pages for a Global Audience, Routledge, →ISBN, page...
8. (interrogative) At what price, for what amount (of money).
   • Shal. How a score of ewes now?
     Sil. Thereafter as they be: a score of good ewes may be worth ten pounds.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
9. (interrogative) In what state or condition.
   • How are you?
   • How was your vacation?
10. (fused relative) In the manner in which.
    • I said it exactly how he said it.
11. (fused relative) In any manner in which; in whatever way; however.
    • People should be free to live how they want.
12. (nonstandard, relative) In which.
    • The way how you walk is funny.
13. Used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings in an exclamation.
    • How very interesting!
    • How wonderful it was to receive your invitation.

Conjunction

how

1. (informal) Used to state that something is in a certain way or state.
   • She told me how her father was a doctor.
   • “There’s this real Al Capone fear that they’re going to get our guys, not on marijuana, but on something else,” Mr. Edson said, referring to how Capone was eventually charged with tax evasion rather than criminal activity.2010 April 24, Jesse McKinley, “Don’t Call It ‘Pot’ in This Circle; It’s a Profession”, in The New York Times, page A1

Interjection (1)

how

1. (US, dialectal) What?, pardon?

Noun (1)

how (plural hows or how's)

1. The means by which something is accomplished.
   • I am not interested in the why, but in the how.
   • It is an a posteriori argument, evincing the fact, but not the how.1924, Joseph Rickaby, Studies on God and His Creatures, page 102

Noun (2)

how (plural hows)

1. (dialectal) An artificial barrow or tumulus; in later folklore, associated with fairies.
   • Fianlly, as regards the places in which these rites and mysteries may have been held, certain writers believe them to have been the "Fairy Hills" or "howes" in various parts of Scotland.1928, Lewis Spence, Mysteries of Britain, page v. 136
   • The fairy feast inside the howe (and this barrow is hill-sized) reminds one of nothing so much as a tale in the Icelandic Eyrbyggia saga, written in the mid thirteenth century.1985, Jennifer Westwood, Albion, published 1992, page xi. 432
2. (dialectal) In northern England, a low hill.

Interjection (2)

1. A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech.

Noun (3) capitalized: How

How

1. (World War II era, joint US/RAF) radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter H.

   Synonyms:

   Hotel

Proper noun capitalized: How

How (countable and uncountable, plural Hows)

1. A surname.
2. A town in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States, named after Calvin F. How Jr.
3. A hamlet in Hayton parish, City of Carlisle district, Cumbria, England (OS grid ref NY5056).