mmt (03/30/83)
A while back I gathered a list of fossil words; these are words that are in reasonably common use, but in only one context (usually), and whose real (dictionary) meaning is not well known. About 6 or 7 were submitted, and I posted them. Now another has come to hand: "Hue", as in "hue and cry". The OED defines it thus: "Outcry, shouting, clamour, especially raised by a multitude, as in war or the chase." It also points out that in this sense "hue" is so obsolete that "hue and cry" is often treated as one word, and in fact the OED lists the phrase as a word. Martin Taylor