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definitions

hob

1
[hob]
See more synonyms for hob on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a projection or shelf at the back or side of a fireplace, used for keeping food warm.
  2. a rounded peg or pin used as a target in quoits and similar games.
  3. a game in which such a peg is used.
  4. Machinery. a milling cutter for gear and sprocket teeth, splines, threads, etc., having helically arranged teeth and fed across the work as the work is rotated.
verb (used with or without object), hobbed, hob·bing.
  1. Machinery. to cut with a hob.

Origin of hob

1
1505–15; variant of obsolete hub hob (in a fireplace); perhaps identical with hub
Related formshob·ber, noun

hob

2
[hob]
noun
  1. a hobgoblin or elf.
Idioms
  1. play hob with, to do mischief or harm to: The child played hob with my radio, and now it won't work at all.
  2. raise hob, to cause a destructive commotion; behave disruptively: They raised such hob with their antagonistic questions that the meeting broke up.

Origin of hob

2
1275–1325; Middle English, special use of Hob, for Robert or Robin
Related formshob·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for hob

leprechaun, imp, goblin, gnome, stove, furnace, chimney, gremlin, puck, elf, brownie, spirit, fay, hob, sprite, bogie, siren, enchanter, nymph, pixie

Examples from the Web for hob

Historical Examples of hob

British Dictionary definitions for hob

hob

1
noun
  1. British the flat top part of a cooking stove, or a separate flat surface, containing hotplates or burners
  2. a shelf beside an open fire, for keeping kettles, etc, hot
  3. a steel pattern used in forming a mould or die in cold metal
  4. a hard steel rotating cutting tool used in machines for cutting gears
verb hobs, hobbing or hobbed
  1. (tr) to cut or form with a hob

Word Origin for hob

C16: variant of obsolete hubbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to hub

hob

2
noun
  1. a hobgoblin or elf
  2. a male ferret
  3. raise hob or play hob US informal to cause mischief or disturbance
Derived Formshoblike, adjective

Word Origin for hob

C14: variant of Rob, short for Robin or Robert
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for hob
n.

"side of fireplace," 1670s, alteration of hubbe (1510s), of unknown origin, perhaps somehow related to the first element in hobnail.

Hob

n.

"clown, prankster," short for hobgoblin (q.v.). Hence, to play (the) hob "make mischief" (by 1834).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper