Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

How \How\, adv. [OE. how, hou, hu, hwu, AS. h?, from the same
   root as hw[=a], hw[ae]t, who, what, pron. interrog.; akin to
   OS. hw[=o]w, D. hoe, cf. G. wie how, Goth. hw[=e] wherewith,
   hwaiwa how. [root]182. See {Who}, and cf. {Why}.]
   1. In what manner or way; by what means or process.

            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.

            How art thou called?                  --Shak.

   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.

Source : WordNet®

how
     adv 1: to what extent or amount or degree; "how tall is she?"
     2: in what way or manner or by what means (`however' is
        sometimes used as an intensive form of `how'); "how did
        you catch the snake?"; "he told us how he did it";
        "however did you get here so soon?" [syn: {however}]