How can a man be born when he is old? --John iii. 4.
2. To what degree or extent, number or amount; in what
proportion; by what measure or quality.
O, how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the
day. --Ps. cxix.
97.
By how much they would diminish the present extent
of the sea, so much they would impair the fertility,
and fountains, and rivers of the earth. --Bentley.
3. For what reason; from what cause.
How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale? --Shak.
4. In what state, condition, or plight.
How, and with what reproach, shall I return?
--Dryden.
5. By what name, designation, or title.
6. At what price; how dear. [Obs.]
How a score of ewes now? --Shak.
Note: How is used in each sense, interrogatively,
interjectionally, and relatively; it is also often
employed to emphasize an interrogation or exclamation.
``How are the mighty fallen!'' --2 Sam. i. 27.
Sometimes, also, it is used as a noun; -- as, the how,
the when, the wherefore. --Shelley.
Let me beg you -- don't say ``How?'' for
``What?'' --Holmes.