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hobby
- 10 dictionary resultshob⋅by
1
[hob-ee] 
–noun, plural -bies.
—Idiom| 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⋅by
2 [hob-ee] –noun, plural -bies.
| a small Old World falcon, Falco subbuteo, formerly flown at such small game as larks. |
Origin:
1400–50; late ME hoby < MF hobé, suffixal var. of MF, OF hobel (cf. F hobereau), prob. n. deriv. of hobeler to skirmish, harass, perh. < MD hob(b)elen to turn, roll; cf. D hobbelen to rock, jolt (cf. hobble )
1400–50; late ME hoby < MF hobé, suffixal var. of MF, OF hobel (cf. F hobereau), prob. n. deriv. of hobeler to skirmish, harass, perh. < MD hob(b)elen to turn, roll; cf. D hobbelen to rock, jolt (cf. hobble )
Hob⋅by
[hob-ee] –noun
| 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. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To hobby
| 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). |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Hobby
Hob"by\, n.; pl. Hobbies. [OE. hobi; cf. OF. hobe, hob['e], F. hobereau a hobby, a species of falcon. OF. hober to move, stir. Cf. Hobby a horse.] (Zo["o]l.) A small, strong-winged European falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking.Hobby
Hob"by\, Hobbyhorse \Hob"by*horse`\, n. [OE. hobin a nag, OF. hobin hobby; cf. hober to stir, move; prob. of German or Scand. origin; cf. Dan. hoppe a mare, dial. Sw. hoppa; perh. akin to E. 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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : hobby
Spanish:
pasatiempo,
German:
das Hobby,
Japanese:
趣味
hobby
1298, "small horse, pony," later "mock horse used in the morris dance," and c.1550 "child's toy riding horse," which led to a transferred sense of "favorite pastime or avocation," first recorded 1676. The connecting notion being "activity that doesn't go anywhere." Probably originally a proper name for a horse (cf. dobbin), a dim. of Robert or Robin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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