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6 results for: hobbledehoy

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
hob·ble·de·hoy    Audio Help   [hob-uhl-dee-hoi] Pronunciation Key
–noun
an awkward, ungainly youth.
[Origin: 1530–40; var. of hoberdyhoy, alliterative compound, equiv. to hoberd (var. of Roberd Robert) + -y2 + -hoy for boy (b > h for alliteration; see hob2)]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
hobbledehoy

To learn more about hobbledehoy visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hob·ble·de·hoy    Audio Help   (hŏb'əl-dē-hoi')  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. hob·ble·de·hoys
A gawky adolescent boy.


[Origin unknown.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hobbledehoy 
"clumsy or awkward youth," 1540, first element is probably hob in its sense of "clown, prankster" (see hobgoblin), the second element seems to be M.Fr. de haye "worthless, untamed, wild," lit. "of the hedge."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
hobbledehoy

noun
an awkward bad-mannered adolescent boy 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Hobbledehoy

Hob"ble*de*hoy`\, Hobbletehoy \Hob"ble*te*hoy`\, n. [Written also hobbetyhoy, hobbarddehoy, hobbedehoy, hobdehoy.] [ Cf. Prob. E. hobbledygee with a limping movement; also F. hobereau, a country squire, E. hobby, and OF. hoi to-day; perh. 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. .
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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