Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. vi., To lie spread out, as an individual or a wide expanse of land or sea; to sweep backward and forward, as great billows that do not break; prone, spread out, flat; summation of productive forces of land and sea (Kam. 76:30, 51).

• Examples:
  • He ʻai, e kāhela ai ka uha (saying), eating, intestines inflate [said of one who has eaten a good meal].
  • Kāhela ka nalu o ka pae lau hala, hōʻaʻiʻaʻi ke kai koʻo o Maliu ē, waves sweep up to the leaves of panidanus rows; white-capped is the rough sea of Maliu.
• References:
  • Cf. lipi kāhela.

2. See ʻami kāhela, a hula step.

3. n., Gourd drumbeat: the gourd is thumped down on a pad; it is then raised with the left hand and is struck with two quick slaps of the fingers of the right hand.

• Related:
  • Pā kāhela, to perform this beat.

4. (Cap.) n., Name of a star, seen in the month ʻIkuwā.

See paʻi kāhela.

One who has eaten much. Generally said of one who has finished a good meal.