haze

name

1. A diminutive of the female given name Hazel.

noun

Etymology: * The earliest instances are of the latter part of the 17th century. * Possibly back-formation from hazy. * Compare Old Norse höss (“grey”), akin to Old English hasu (“gray”).

1. Very fine solid particles (smoke, dust) or liquid droplets (moisture) suspended in the air, slightly limiting visibility. (Compare fog, mist.)

   “Our hopes, however, soon vanished; for before eight o'clock, the serenity of the sky was changed into a thick haze, accompanied with rain.”

   “A blue haze, half dust, half mist, touched the long valley with mystery.”

2. A reduction of transparency of a clear gas or liquid.
3. An analogous dullness on a surface that is ideally highly reflective or transparent.

   “The soap left a persistent haze on the drinking glasses.”

   “The furniture has a haze, possibly from some kind of wax.”

4. Any state suggestive of haze in the atmosphere, such as mental confusion or vagueness of memory.

   “And is it that the haze of grief ⁠Hath stretch’d my former joy so great? ⁠The lowness of the present state, That sets the past in this relief?”

   “In my haze of alcohol, I thought for one crazy instant that he had plumbed my secret.”

5. The degree of cloudiness or turbidity in a clear glass or plastic, measured in percent.

   “Haze is listed as a percent value and, typically, is about 1% for meat film.”

6. Any substance causing turbidity in beer or wine.

   “Various clarifying and fining agents are used in winemaking to remove hazes.”

verb

Etymology: Possibly from hawze (“terrify, frighten, confound”), from Middle French haser (“irritate, annoy”)

1. To perform an unpleasant initiation ritual upon a usually non-consenting person, especially freshmen to a closed community such as a college fraternity or military unit.
2. To oppress or harass by forcing to do hard and unnecessary work.

   “[…] when the young man whirled his horse, “hazed” Jupiter in circles and belaboured him with a rawhide quirt, […] He ceased his cavortings […]”

3. In a rodeo, to assist the bulldogger by keeping (the steer) running in a straight line.
4. To use aversive stimuli on (a wild animal, such as a bear) to encourage it to keep its distance from humans.

   “Hazing a bear involves creating a "negative experience for a bear that seeks out human food or loses its natural avoidance of humans and developed areas," the release said. That involves using non-lethal rubber shotgun slugs, or rubber rounds and noise-deterrent rounds in sequence to scare bears away, according to the release.”