Hobbism Hob"bism noun The philosophical system of Thomas Hobbes , an English materialist (1588-1679); esp., his political theory that the most perfect form of civil government is an absolute monarchy with despotic control over everything relating to law, morals, and religion.
Hobbist Hob"bist noun One who accepts the doctrines of Thomas Hobbes.
Hobble Hob"ble intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Hobbled ;
present participle & verbal noun Hobbling .] [ Middle English
hobelen ,
hoblen , freq. of
hoppen to hop; akin to Dutch
hobbelen ,
hoblen ,
hoppeln . See
Hop to jump, and confer
Hopple ]
1. To walk lame, bearing chiefly on one leg; to walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches. The friar was hobbling the same way too.
Dryden. 2. To move roughly or irregularly; -- said of style in writing. Prior. The hobbling versification, the mean diction.
Jeffreys.
Hobble Hob"ble transitive verb 1. To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog. " They
hobbled their horses."
Dickens 2. To perplex; to embarrass.
Hobble Hob"ble noun 1. An unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in his gait. Swift. 2. Same as Hopple . 3. Difficulty; perplexity; embarrassment. Waterton.
Hobble skirt Hob"ble skirt A woman's skirt so scant at the bottom as to restrain freedom of movement after the fashion of a hobble. --
Hob"ble-skirt`ed ,
adjective
Hobblebush Hob"ble·bush` noun (Botany) A low bush ( Viburnum lantanoides ) having long, straggling branches and handsome flowers. It is found in the Northern United States. Called also shinhopple .
Hobbledehoy, Hobbletehoy Hob"ble·de·hoy`, Hob"ble·te·hoy` noun [ Written also
hobbetyhoy ,
hobbarddehoy ,
hobbedehoy ,
hobdehoy .] [ Confer Prob. English
hobbledygee with a limping movement; also French
hobereau , a country squire, English
hobby , and Old French
hoi to-day; perhaps the orig. sense was, an upstart of to-day.]
A youth between boy and man; an awkward, gawky young fellow . [ Colloq.]
All the men, boys, and hobbledehoys attached to the farm.
Dickens. .
Hobbler Hob"bler noun One who hobbles.
Hobbler Hob"bler noun [ Middle English also
hobeler , Old French
hobelier , Late Latin
hobellarius . See
Hobby a horse.]
(Eng. Hist.) One who by his tenure was to maintain a horse for military service; a kind of light horseman in the Middle Ages who was mounted on a hobby. Hallam. Sir J. Davies.
Hobblingly Hob"bling·ly adverb With a limping step.
Hobbly Hob"bly adjective Rough; uneven; causing one to hobble; as a hobbly road.
Hobby Hob"by noun ;
plural Hobbies . [ Middle English
hobi ; confer Old French
hobe ,
hobé , French
hobereau a hobby, a species of falcon. Old French
hober to move, stir. Confer
Hobby a horse.]
(Zoology) A small, strong-winged European falcon ( Falco subbuteo ), formerly trained for hawking.
Hobby, Hobbyhorse Hob"by, Hob"by·horse` noun [ Middle English
hobin a nag, Old French
hobin hobby; confer
hober to stir, move; probably of German or Scand. origin; confer Danish
hoppe a mare, dial. Swedish
hoppa ; perhaps akin to English
hop to jump.]
1. A strong, active horse, of a middle size, said to have been originally from Ireland; an ambling nag. Johnson. 2. A stick, often with the head or figure of a horse, on which boys make believe to ride. [ Usually under the form
hobbyhorse .]
3. A subject or plan upon which one is constantly setting off; a favorite and ever-recurring theme of discourse, thought, or effort; that which occupies one's attention unduly, or to the weariness of others; a ruling passion. [ Usually under the form
hobby .]
Not one of them has any hobbyhorse , to use the phrase of Sterne.
Macaulay.
Hobbyhorsical Hob`by·hors"ic·al noun Pertaining to, or having, a hobby or whim; eccentric; whimsical. [ Colloq.]
Sterne.
Hobgoblin Hob"gob`lin noun [ See 2d Hob, and
Goblin .]
A frightful goblin; an imp; a bugaboo; also, a name formerly given to the household spirit, Robin Goodfellow. Macaulay.
Hobiler Hob"i·ler noun [ See 2d
Hobbler .]
A light horseman. See 2d Hobbler . [ Obsolete]
Brande & C.
Hobit Ho"bit noun [ See
Howitzer .]
(Mil.) A small mortar on a gun carriage, in use before the howitzer.
Hobnail Hob"nail` noun [ 1st
hob + nail .]
1. A short, sharp-pointed, large- headed nail, -- used in shoeing houses and for studding the soles of heavy shoes. 2. A clownish person; a rustic. Milton. Hobnail liver (Medicine) ,
a disease in which the liver is shrunken, hard, and covered with projections like hobnails; one of the forms of cirrhosis of the liver.
Hobnail Hob"nail` transitive verb To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes. Your rights and charters hobnailed into slush.
Tennyson.
Hobnailed Hob"nailed` adjective See with hobnails, as a shoe.
Hobnob Hob"nob` adverb [ Anglo-Saxon
habban to have +
habban to have not;
ne not +
habban to have. See
Have , and confer
Habnab .]
1. Have or have not; -- a familiar invitation to reciprocal drinking. Shak. 2. At random; hit or miss. (Obsolete) Holinshed.
Hobnob Hob"nob` intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Hornobbed ;
present participle & verbal noun Hornobbing .]
1. To drink familiarly (with another). [ Written also
hob-a-nob .]
2. To associate familiarly; to be on intimate terms.
Hobnob Hob"nob` noun Familiar, social intercourse. W. Black.
Hobo Ho"bo noun ; plural
Hobos or
Hoboes . [ Of uncertain origin.]
A professional tramp; one who spends his life traveling from place to place, esp. by stealing rides on trains, and begging for a living. [ U. S.] --
Ho"bo*ism noun
Hobornob Hob"or·nob` adverb See Hobnob .
Hoboy Ho"boy noun A hautboy or oboe. [ Obsolete]
Hobson's choice Hob"son's choice" A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing. » It is said to have had its origin in the name of one Hobson , at Cambridge, England, who let horses, and required every customer to take in his turn the horse which stood next the stable door.
Hocco Hoc"co noun (Zoology) The crested curassow; -- called also royal pheasant . See Curassow .
Hochepot Hoche"pot noun Hotchpot. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Hock Hock noun [ So called from
Hoch heim, in Germany.]
A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still. The name is also given indiscriminately to all Rhenish wines.
Hock Hock transitive verb To disable by cutting the tendons of the hock; to hamstring; to hough.
Hock, Hough Hock, Hough noun [ Anglo-Saxon
h...h the heel; probably akin to Icelandic
hāsinn hock sinew, Danish
hasc , German
hechse ,
hächse , LG.
hacke , Dutch
hak ; also to Latin
coxa hip (cf.
Cuisses ), Sanskrit
kaksha armpit. √12. Confer
Heel .]
1. (a) The joint in the hind limb of quadrupeds between the leg and shank, or tibia and tarsus, and corresponding to the ankle in man. (b) A piece cut by butchers, esp. in pork, from either the front or hind leg, just above the foot. 2. The popliteal space; the ham.
Hockamore Hock"a·more noun [ See 1st
Hock .]
A Rhenish wine. [ Obsolete] See Hock . Hudibras.
Hockday Hock"day` noun [ Confer Anglo-Saxon
hōcor mockery, scorn.]
A holiday commemorating the expulsion of the Danes, formerly observed on the second Tuesday after Easter; -- called also hocktide . [ Eng.] [ Written also
hokeday .]
Hockey Hock"ey noun [ From
Hook ,
noun ]
1. A game in which two parties of players, armed with sticks curved or hooked at the end, attempt to drive any small object (as a ball or a bit of wood) toward opposite goals. 2. The stick used by the players. [ Written also
hookey and
hawkey .]
Hockherb Hock"herb` noun (Botany) The mallow.
Hockle Hoc"kle transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Hockled;
present participle & verbal noun Hockling .] [ From 2d
Hock .]
1. To hamstring; to hock; to hough. Hanmer. 2. To mow, as stubble. Mason.
Hocus Ho"cus transitive verb [ See
Hocus- pocus .]
1. To deceive or cheat. Halliwell. 2. To adulterate; to drug; as, liquor is said to be hocused for the purpose of stupefying the drinker. Dickens. 3. To stupefy with drugged liquor. Thackeray.
Hocus Ho"cus noun 1. One who cheats or deceives. South. 2. Drugged liquor.
Hocus-pocus Ho"cus-po"cus noun [ Prob. invented by jugglers in imitation of Latin. Confer
Hoax ,
Hocus .]
1. A term used by jugglers in pretended incantations. 2. A juggler or trickster. Sir T. Herbert. 3. A juggler's trick; a cheat; nonsense. Hudibras.
Hocus-pocus Ho"cus-po"cus transitive verb To cheat. [ Colloq.]
L'Estrange.
Hod Hod noun [ Prov. E. for
hold ,
i. e ., that which holds. See
Hold .]
1. A kind of wooden tray with a handle, borne on the shoulder, for carrying mortar, brick, etc. 2. A utensil for holding coal; a coal scuttle.
Hoddengray Hod"den·gray` adjective [ Perh. akin to English
hoiden rustic, clownish.]
Applied to coarse cloth made of undyed wool, formerly worn by Scotch peasants. [ Scot.]
Hoddy Hod"dy noun [ Prob. for
hooded .]
(Zoology) See Dun crow , under Dun , adjective
Hoddydoddy Hod"dy·dod`dy noun [ Prob. E. also
hoddypeke ,
hoddypoule ,
hoddymandoddy .]
An awkward or foolish person. [ Obsolete]
B. Jonson.
Hodgepodge Hodge"podge` noun A mixed mass; a medley. See Hotchpot . Johnson.
Hodgkin's disease Hodg`kin's dis·ease" (Medicine) A morbid condition characterized by progressive anæmia and enlargement of the lymphatic glands; -- first described by Dr. Hodgkin , an English physician.
Hodiern, Hodiernal Ho"di·ern, Ho`di·er"nal adjective [ Latin
hodiernus , from
hodie today.]
Of this day; belonging to the present day. [ R.]
Boyle. Quart. Rev.
Hodman Hod"man noun ;
plural Hodmen A man who carries a hod; a mason's tender.
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