[hob-ee] 
| 1. | an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving. |
| 2. | a child's hobbyhorse. |
| 3. | Archaic. a small horse. |
| 4. | ride a hobby, to concern oneself excessively with a favorite notion or activity. Also, ride a hobbyhorse. |
[hob-ee] | a small Old World falcon, Falco subbuteo, formerly flown at such small game as larks. |
[hob-ee] | Oveta Culp [kuhlp] , 1905–1995, U.S. newspaper publisher and government official: first director of Women's Army Corps 1942–45; first Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 1953–55. |
| hob·by 1 (hŏb'ē) n. pl. hob·bies An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure. [Middle English hobi, hobyn, small horse, hobby horse, perhaps from Hobin, Hobby, nickname for Robert.] hob'by·ist n. |
| hob·by 2 (hŏb'ē) n. pl. hob·bies Any of several small falcons of the genus Falco, formerly used for catching small birds or game. [Middle English hobi, from Old French hobe, hobel.] |
| Hob·by (hŏb'ē) American public official. She was the first director of the Women's Army Corps (1943-1945) and the first secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1953-1955). |
hobby
any of certain birds of prey of the genus Falco (primarily F. subbuteo) that are intermediate in size and strength between the merlin and the peregrine. F. subbuteo is about 33 cm (13 inches) long and is dark bluish brown above and white below, with dark streaking and reddish leg feathering. It breeds in Europe, northwestern Africa, the Middle East except Arabia, and all of sub-Arctic and temperate Asia. It inhabits open country near woodlands, where it captures small birds and large insects. Similar species are the African hobby (F. cuvierii), the sooty falcon (F. concolor) of eastern Africa, and the Oriental hobby (F. severus) of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific
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