DH
Abbreviation with 5 meanings
| Stands for | Dear husband |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 5 |
| Categories | Texting & Internet Slang, Sports, Medical, Transportation & Travel, Technology & Computing |
DH has five meanings. The most common are Dear husband (parenting forum) and Designated hitter (baseball); it can also stand for Dermatitis herpetiformis, Decision height and Diffie-Hellman (key exchange).
Meanings of DH at a glance
| # | DH stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dear husband | Texting & Internet Slang › Parenting Forum |
| 2 | Designated hitter | Sports › Baseball |
| 3 | Dermatitis herpetiformis | Medical › Dermatology |
| 4 | Decision height | Transportation & Travel › Aviation |
| 5 | Diffie-Hellman (key exchange) | Technology & Computing › Cybersecurity |
1. Dear husband
Texting & Internet Slang · Parenting Forum Abbreviations
Forum code for the poster's husband, as in "DH works nights." Among the most frequent abbreviations on Mumsnet, BabyCenter and Reddit parenting and relationship boards, where it keeps long posts short and anonymous.
Example: DH thinks we should skip the big party and do a small family lunch instead.
The "dear" is a convention, not necessarily a compliment; posters often use it wryly in complaints ("DH has 'forgotten' bin day again"). Variants include DP (dear partner) and XH (ex-husband). In baseball DH means designated hitter, a context forums never confuse.
2. Designated hitter
Sports · Baseball Abbreviations
Player who bats in place of the pitcher but does not play the field. The American League adopted the DH in 1973, and the National League followed permanently in 2022, making it universal in MLB.
Example: With the DH, the Yankees can rest their slugger's legs while keeping his bat in the lineup.
The DH is a frequent topic of debate between traditionalists and fans who prefer more offense. Under the "Ohtani rule" of 2022, a starting pitcher who is also the DH can remain the DH after leaving the mound. Edgar Martinez and David Ortiz entered the Hall of Fame mainly as designated hitters.
3. Dermatitis herpetiformis
Medical · Dermatology Abbreviations
Intensely itchy rash of grouped small blisters and bumps on the elbows, knees, buttocks and scalp, which is the skin manifestation of celiac disease. Biopsy shows granular IgA deposits in the dermal papillae.
Example: Excoriated vesicles on elbows and buttocks; DIF granular IgA: DH, start dapsone and gluten-free diet.
"Herpetiformis" refers to the clustered, herpes-like appearance, not to herpes virus infection. A strict gluten-free diet controls the disease long term, while dapsone relieves itch within days. Most patients have celiac changes in the small intestine even without gut symptoms.
4. Decision height
Transportation & Travel · Aviation Abbreviations
Height above the runway threshold, normally read on a radio altimeter, at which a pilot on a Category II or III precision approach must decide to land or go around. A typical CAT II decision height is 100 feet.
Example: With a CAT II approach and a 100-foot DH, the captain called "landing" as the approach lights appeared.
Category I approaches usually publish a decision altitude instead, read on the barometric altimeter. Some CAT IIIb operations have no DH at all, relying on autoland and a minimum runway visual range. In airline crew scheduling, DH has an unrelated meaning: deadhead, a crew member riding as a passenger to reposition.
5. Diffie-Hellman (key exchange)
Technology & Computing · Cybersecurity Abbreviations
A method that lets two parties agree on a shared secret key over a public channel without ever transmitting it, by each combining their own private value with the other's public value. TLS, SSH, VPNs and Signal use Diffie-Hellman variants.
Example: The VPN uses DH group 14 to negotiate session keys for the IPsec tunnel.
Published by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in 1976, a founding paper of public-key cryptography that earned them the 2015 Turing Award; Ralph Merkle contributed key ideas. The elliptic-curve version, ECDH, is now most common. On its own it authenticates neither party, so it is paired with certificates or signatures to stop man-in-the-middle attacks.
Related abbreviations
More parenting forum abbreviations
- BM – Baby mama
- CIO – Cry it out
- DC – Dear children
- DD – Dear daughter
- DP – Dear partner
- DPO – Days past ovulation
- DS – Dear son
- DSD – Dear stepdaughter
See all 42 parenting forum abbreviations →
More baseball abbreviations
- CF – Center fielder
- CG – Complete game
- CS – Caught stealing
- DFA – Designated for assignment
- DRS – Defensive runs saved
- E – Error
- ER – Earned runs
- ERA – Earned run average
See all 83 baseball abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.