different between honker vs hanker

English

Etymology

honk +? -er

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??k?(r)

Noun

honker (plural honkers)

1. One who honks.
2. (informal) A large nose.
3. (informal) A wild goose.
4. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
5. (slang) Anything impressively large; a whopper.

   I caught a real honker of a fish.

6. (slang) A loud burst of flatulence.
   • 2016, Steve Vernon, Flash Virus Omnibus: The First Five Episodes (page 39)

     I would have given a million dollars to fart a good loud juicy honker, right then and there […]

7. (slang) The telephone.
   • 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things

     He supposed Pangborn was around someplace, and pretty soon old Bill Fullerton would get him on the honker and tell him who was back in town. Then Pangborn would find him and ask him what he thought he was doing here.

   • 2001, Paul M. Levitt, Chin Music: A Novel of the Jazz Age (page 283)

     I kidded him about the length of the call, and he said that he'd also been on the honker with A.R. […]

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:nose

Further reading

• honker at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

With a secondary frequentative suffix -er, ultimately pointing to Proto-Germanic *hank?n?, an iterative to *hanhan? (“to hang”). Related to Dutch hunkeren (“to crave”), which continues the zero-grade iterative.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æ?k?(r)

Verb

hanker (third-person singular simple present hankers, present participle hankering, simple past and past participle hankered)

1. To crave, want or desire.

   If you hanker for chocolate, you'll like this fudge recipe.

   • 2012, The Economist, 13 Oct 2012, Butlers: Very good, sir

     [...] the newly rich hanker after old aristocratic glitz.

Usage notes

• Usually used with for, as in the example above; after may also be used.

Translations

Anagrams

• harken

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

hanker m or f

1. indefinite plural of hank

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• hankar

Noun

hanker m or f

1. indefinite feminine plural of hank