haze

tr.v. hazed, haz·ing, haz·es 1. To persecute or harass with meaningless, difficult, or humiliating tasks. 2. To initiate, as into a college fraternity, by exacting humiliating performances from or playing rough practical jokes upon. [Perhaps from obsolete haze, to frighten, from obsolete French haser, to annoy, from Old French.] hazer n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.