2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
How \How\, adv. [OE. how, hou, hu, hwu, AS. h?, from the same
root as hw[=a], hw[ae]t, who, what, pron. interrog.; akin to
OS. hw[=o]w, D. hoe, cf. G. wie how, Goth. hw[=e] wherewith,
hwaiwa how. [root]182. See {Who}, and cf. {Why}.]
1. In what manner or way; by what means or process.
How can a man be born when he is old? --John iii. 4.
2. To what degree or extent, number or amount; in what
proportion; by what measure or quality.
O, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the
day. --Ps. cxix.
97.
By how much they would diminish the present extent
of the sea, so much they would impair the fertility,
and fountains, and rivers of the earth. --Bentley.
3. For what reason; from what cause.
How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale? --Shak.
4. In what state, condition, or plight.
How, and with what reproach, shall I return?
--Dryden.
5. By what name, designation, or title.
How art thou called? --Shak.
6. At what price; how dear. [Obs.]
How a score of ewes now? --Shak.
Note: How is used in each sense, interrogatively,
interjectionally, and relatively; it is also often
employed to emphasize an interrogation or exclamation.
``How are the mighty fallen!'' --2 Sam. i. 27.
Sometimes, also, it is used as a noun; -- as, the how,
the when, the wherefore. --Shelley.
Let me beg you -- don't say ``How?'' for
``What?'' --Holmes.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
how
adv 1: to what extent or amount or degree; "how tall is she?"
2: in what way or manner or by what means (`however' is
sometimes used as an intensive form of `how'); "how did
you catch the snake?"; "he told us how he did it";
"however did you get here so soon?" [syn: {however}]