Top 100 Commonly Used Verbs Starting With H

Ever stopped to think about how many actions you describe using verbs that start with H? From a simple “hello” to a heartfelt “hug,” these words form the backbone of our daily interactions. Verbs are the engines of language, driving our sentences and conveying action, emotion, and existence.

Therefore, expanding your verb vocabulary significantly enhances your ability to express yourself clearly and dynamically. It can be challenging to recall numerous verbs that start with H, but that’s where this article comes in handy!

Why Focus on Verbs That Start With H?

Verbs are essential because they animate our language. Therefore, knowing a wide variety of verbs, including those starting with H, makes your communication much more precise and engaging.

A rich vocabulary, especially one stocked with versatile verbs that start with H, empowers you to articulate thoughts and ideas with greater nuance and impact. Moreover, from an SEO perspective, targeting specific verbs can help improve the visibility of your content.

Top 100 Commonly Used Verbs That Start With H: The Ultimate List

• Help: To assist or aid someone.
• Heal: To restore health or soundness.
• Habilitate: To help someone recover from an injury; to make functionally fit.
• Harness: To control and make use of natural resources, especially to produce energy.
• Hospice: To provide hospice or palliative care.
• Hike: To walk long distances, often in nature.
• Hasten: To hurry or accelerate.
• Halt: To stop moving.
• Hover: To float or remain suspended in the air.
• Hurtle: To move rapidly or forcefully.
• Hie: To go quickly.
• Head: To move in a specific direction.
• Hitchhike: To travel by getting free rides from passing vehicles.
• Hear: To perceive sound.
• Hint: To suggest something indirectly.
• Holler: To shout or yell.
• Haggle: To negotiate or bargain over a price.
• Harangue: To lecture someone at length in an aggressive way.
• Hail: To greet or praise enthusiastically.
• Hush: To make someone be quiet.
• Hate: To feel intense dislike.
• Hope: To desire with expectation.
• Hurt: To cause physical or emotional pain.
• Humor: To try to please someone.
• Harass: To persistently disturb or torment.
• Honor: To respect highly.
• Handle: To manage or control.
• Hammer: To strike forcefully with a tool.
• Handcraft: To make by hand.
• Hatch: To emerge from an egg; to devise a plan.
• Hew: To chop or cut with an axe.
• Have: To possess or hold.
• Happen: To occur or take place.
• Hesitate: To pause before doing something.
• Hibernate: To spend the winter in a dormant state.
• Haunt: To be persistently in one’s mind.
• Hit: To strike forcefully.
• Hold: To grasp or support.
• Harm: To cause damage or injury.
• Harvest: To gather crops.
• Hinder: To create difficulties for someone or something.
• House: To provide accommodation.
• Home: To return to one’s home.
• Harbor: To give shelter.
• Hang: To suspend or be suspended.
• Huddle: To crowd together.
• Hum: To make a low, steady sound.
• Hiss: To make a sharp sibilant sound.
• Howl: To utter a loud, mournful cry.
• Hark: To listen.
• Halloo: To shout loudly to attract attention.
• Harness: To control and make use of.
• Handle: To manage or control.
• Hoard: To accumulate and hide.
• Hook: To catch with a hook.
• Hoodwink: To deceive or trick.
• Hypothecate: To pledge as security.
• Homogenize: To unify.
• Hyperventilate: To breathe at an abnormally rapid rate.

Let’s dive into a list of the 100 most frequently used verbs starting with “H,” where we’ll examine their definitions, offer sentence examples, and explore their subtle differences in various situations.

Verbs That Start With H Related to Helping and Healing

• Help
  • Definition: To assist or aid someone.
  • Example: “I will help you with your homework.”
  • Details: To help is the act of providing assistance to someone who needs it. It is often used when someone is facing a challenge and needs someone to come alongside them.
• Heal
  • Definition: To restore health or soundness.
  • Example: “Time can heal all wounds.”
  • Details: Heal is a term that can be used to talk about physical, emotional, and spiritual restoration.
• Habilitate
  • Definition: To help someone recover from an injury; to make functionally fit.
  • Example: “The therapy habilitated him after the accident.”
  • Details: Habilitate is often used in reference to someone regaining a skill that they previously lost.
• Harness
  • Definition: To control and make use of natural resources, especially to produce energy.
  • Example: “We can harness solar power to generate electricity.”
  • Details: Harness can be used to describe controlling something and then using it for your purposes.
• Hospice
  • Definition: To provide hospice or palliative care.
  • Example: The family decided to hospice their grandmother at home so she could be comfortable in her final months.
  • Details: In hospice, someone involves providing comprehensive comfort care, and support for the family, and typically requires a prognosis of six months or less to live. Unlike palliative care, hospice focuses on care during the terminal phase of an illness and stops attempts to cure the illness

Verbs That Start With H Indicating Movement

• Hike
  • Definition: To walk long distances, often in nature.
  • Example: “They hike through the mountains every summer.”
  • Details: To hike is to make a trek, often through wooded and mountainous areas.
• Hasten
  • Definition: To hurry or accelerate.
  • Example: “We need to hasten the process to meet the deadline.”
  • Details: Hasten is used when describing an urgency to complete a task or to get somewhere quickly. It can imply both a physical quickening of pace or an increase in efficiency and speed in non-physical tasks.
• Halt
  • Definition: To stop moving.
  • Example: “The guard yelled, ‘Halt!'”
  • Details: Halt is often used as an authoritative term when ordering someone to stop.
• Hover
  • Definition: To float or remain suspended in the air.
  • Example: “The helicopter hovered over the building.”
  • Details: Hover is used when talking about something remaining suspended above the earth or another object.
• Hurtle
  • Definition: To move rapidly or forcefully.
  • Example: “The car hurtled down the highway.”
  • Details: Hurtle is often used in a negative sense when talking about something rapidly moving in an out-of-control fashion.

• Hie
  • Definition: To go quickly; to hasten.
  • Example: “She hied to the market before it closed.”
  • Details: Hie is an older, somewhat archaic term for hurrying.

• Head
  • Definition: To move in a specific direction.
  • Example: “They head towards the beach.”
  • Details: Head is an intransitive verb that indicates someone moving in a particular direction.

• Hitchhike
  • Definition: To travel by getting free rides from passing vehicles.
  • Example: “They decided to hitchhike across Europe.”
  • Details: Hitchhiking involves standing on the side of the road and signaling for drivers to pick you up.

Verbs That Start With H Describing Communication

• Hear:
  • Definition: To perceive sound.
  • Example: “Did you hear that noise?”
  • Details: Hear is used to describe the act of hearing sound.
• Hint:
  • Definition: To suggest something indirectly.
  • Example: “She hinted at a surprise party.”
  • Details: Hint is often used when someone is speaking obscurely or is attempting to communicate something in a subtle way.

• Holler
  • Definition: To shout or yell loudly.
  • Example: “He hollered for help when he fell.”
  • Details: Holler is a loud verbal expression, often used to get someone’s attention quickly.

• Haggle:
  • Definition: To negotiate or bargain over a price.
  • Example: “They haggle over the price at the market.”
  • Details: Haggle is used when negotiating a price with someone.
• Harangue:
  • Definition: To lecture someone at length in an aggressive way.
  • Example: “He harangued his employees about their performance.”
  • Details: Harangue is used to describe someone attempting to persuade someone using aggressive behavior.
• Hail:
  • Definition: To greet or praise enthusiastically.
  • Example: “The crowd hailed the returning hero.”
  • Details: Hail is used when someone is greeting or praising a hero or someone with an enthusiastic cheer.
• Hush:
  • Definition: To make someone be quiet.
  • Example: “The librarian asked us to hush.”
  • Details: Hush is often used when asking someone to be quiet.

Verbs That Start With H Related to Emotion and Sensation

• Hate:
  • Definition: To feel intense dislike.
  • Example: “I hate being late.”
  • Details: Hate is used when describing a sense of disgust or a strong sense of disliking something.
• Hope:
  • Definition: To desire with expectation.
  • Example: “I hope to see you again soon.”
  • Details: Hope is used when describing a desire that something happens.
• Hurt:
  • Definition: To cause physical or emotional pain.
  • Example: “The fall hurt my knee.”
  • Details: Hurt can be used when describing physical or emotional pain.

• Humor
  • Definition: To try to please or appease someone, often to gain favor.
  • Example: “She humored her boss by laughing at his jokes.”
  • Details: Humor in this sense implies trying to make someone else feel good, sometimes insincerely.

• Harass:
  • Definition: To persistently disturb or torment.
  • Example: “She claimed that her boss harassed her.”
  • Details: Harass is used when describing someone who is being pursued or disturbed repeatedly.
• Honor:
  • Definition: To respect highly.
  • Example: “We honor our veterans.”
  • Details: Honor is a public way of showing respect.

Verbs That Start With H Denoting Creation and Craft

• Handle:
  • Definition: To manage or control.
  • Example: “Can you handle this task?”
  • Details: Handle is often used when talking about management of a particular situation or object.
• Hammer:
  • Definition: To strike forcefully with a tool.
  • Example: “He hammered the nail into the wall.”
  • Details: Hammer is used when talking about a tool being struck against an object with great force.

• Handcraft
  • Definition: To make by hand, using manual skill and artistry.
  • Example: “She handcrafted a beautiful quilt.”
  • Details: Handcraft implies a personal touch and a high degree of skill in creating something.

• Hatch:
  • Definition: To emerge from an egg; to devise a plan.
  • Example: “They are hatching a plan to surprise her.”
  • Details: Hatch is used when describing the process of developing a plan or a scheme.

• Hew
  • Definition: To chop or cut with an axe or other tool.
  • Example: “He hewed wood for the fire.”
  • Details: Hew implies rough cutting, often with a large tool and considerable effort.

Verbs That Start With H Describing States of Being

• Have:
  • Definition: To possess or hold.
  • Example: “I have a car.”
  • Details: Have is a very common verb that is used to describe possession of an object.
• Happen:
  • Definition: To occur or take place.
  • Example: “What did happen yesterday?”
  • Details: Happen is often used when questioning an event that has taken place.
• Hesitate:
  • Definition: To pause before doing something.
  • Example: “Don’t hesitate to ask for help.”
  • Details: Hesitate is used when someone is reluctant to do something.
• Hibernate:
  • Definition: To spend the winter in a dormant state.
  • Example: “Bears hibernate during the winter.”
  • Details: Hibernate is often used when speaking about animals who sleep through the winter.
• Haunt:
  • Definition: To be persistently in one’s mind.
  • Example: “The memory continues to haunt him.”
  • Details: Haunt is used when a memory continues to affect someone.

Verbs That Start With H Indicating Action and Impact

• Hit
  • Definition: To strike forcefully.
  • Example: “The baseball hit the window.”
  • Details: Hit implies a quick, forceful impact.
• Hold
  • Definition: To grasp or support.
  • Example: “Please hold this for me.”
  • Details: Hold implies maintaining a grip on something.

• Harm:
  • Definition: To cause damage or injury.
  • Example: “Smoking can harm your health.”
  • Details: Harm is used when something will be damaged by an event.
• Harvest:
  • Definition: To gather crops.
  • Example: “They harvest the wheat in the fall.”
  • Details: Harvest is used when talking about gathering food.

• Hinder
  • Definition: To create difficulties for someone or something; to obstruct.
  • Example: “The rain hindered our progress.”
  • Details: Hinder implies slowing down or preventing progress.

Verbs That Start With H Related to Home and Hearth

• House
  • Definition: To provide accommodation or shelter.
  • Example: “The museum houses a valuable collection of artifacts.”
  • Details: House implies providing a place to live or store something.
• Home
  • Definition: To return to one’s home.
  • Example: “The birds home to their nests every evening.”
  • Details: Home implies a natural or instinctive return to a familiar place.

• Harbor
  • Definition: To give shelter or refuge; also, to hold a thought or feeling secretly.
  • Example: “The old port harbored many ships.” “She harbored a secret resentment.”
  • Details: Harbor can refer to physical shelter or a more abstract holding of emotions.
• Hang
  • Definition: To suspend or be suspended.
  • Example: “They hang decorations on the tree.”
  • Details: Hang implies suspending something from above.
• Huddle
  • Definition: To crowd together.
  • Example: “They huddled together for warmth.”
  • Details: Huddle implies a close gathering, often for protection or comfort.

Verbs That Start With H Describing Sound and Expression

• Hum:
  • Definition: To make a low, steady sound.
  • Example: “She likes to hum while cooking.”
  • Details: Hum is used when someone is making a low sound.
• Hiss:
  • Definition: To make a sharp sibilant sound.
  • Example: “The snake hissed at us.”
  • Details: Hiss is a sharp sound that snakes make.

• Howl
  • Definition: To utter a loud, mournful cry.
  • Example: “The wolves howled at the moon.”
  • Details: Howl is a prolonged, mournful sound, often made by animals.
• Hark
  • Definition: To listen attentively.
  • Example: “Hark, I hear music!”
  • Details: Hark is an older, somewhat formal term for listening.
• Halloo
  • Definition: To shout loudly to attract attention.
  • Example: “He hallooed across the field.”
  • Details: Halloo is a loud shout, often used in hunting or to call someone from a distance.

Verbs That Start With H Involving Manipulation and Control

• Harness
  • Definition: To control and make use of.
  • Example: “We can harness the power of the wind.”
  • Details: Harness implies controlling something to make it useful.
• Handle
  • Definition: To manage or control.
  • Example: “Can you handle this task?”
  • Details: Handle is often used when talking about management of a particular situation or object.
• Hoard
  • Definition: To accumulate and hide a supply of something.
  • Example: “They hoarded food during the crisis.”
  • Details: Hoard implies keeping something secret and often excessively.
• Hook
  • Definition: To catch with a hook.
  • Example: “He hooked a fish.”
  • Details: Hook implies catching something using a curved tool.
• Hoodwink
  • Definition: To deceive or trick.
  • Example: “They hoodwinked him into signing the contract.”
  • Details: Hoodwink implies deceiving someone through trickery.

Advanced Verbs That Start With H for Vocabulary Expansion

To truly enrich your vocabulary, consider these more complex verbs:

• Hypothecate
  • Definition: To pledge as security for a loan.
  • Example: “The company hypothecated its assets to secure a loan.”
  • Details: Hypothecate is a financial term involving using assets as collateral.
• Homogenize
  • Definition: To unify or make uniform in composition.
  • Example: “The goal is to homogenize the milk so it is all one consistency.”
  • Details: Homogenize implies making something consistent throughout.
• Hyperventilate
  • Definition: To breathe at an abnormally rapid rate.
  • Example: “She started to hyperventilate when she heard the news.”
  • Details: Hyperventilate is often a reaction to stress or anxiety.

Mastering Verbs That Start With H: Tips and Tricks

Here’s how you can integrate these verbs into your everyday language:

• Use flashcards or vocabulary apps to memorize new verbs.
• Incorporate new verbs into your writing and conversations.
• Read a variety of texts to see verbs used in different contexts.

Conclusion

Expanding your vocabulary with verbs that start with H not only enhances your communication skills but also provides a deeper understanding of the nuances of the English language.

Therefore, continue exploring new words and incorporating them into your daily life to express yourself more vividly and precisely. What are some of your favorite verbs that start with H? Share them in the comments below!