hobby1
- an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.
- a child's hobbyhorse.
- Archaic. a small horse.
- ride a hobby, to concern oneself excessively with a favorite notion or activity.Also ride a hobbyhorse.
Origin of hobby1
hobby2
- a small Old World falcon, Falco subbuteo, formerly flown at such small game as larks.
Origin of hobby2
Examples from the Web for hobbies
Contemporary Examples
Did you two engage in any hobbies or games together in your downtime?
‘Game of Thrones’ Star Maisie Williams on Arya Stark’s S4 Journey and Her Crush on Andrew GarfieldMarlow Stern
June 23, 2014
But my parents also left me with a dearth of hobbies that make admissions committees salivate.
The bottom line: we have our jobs, we work on those; we have our hobbies, we work on those; we have our bodies, we work on those.
My father had no hobbies and spent what little free time he had helping my Mom take care of us.
In an online bio, she describes her hobbies as running, skiing, and surfing.
Paula Broadwell, David Petraeus’s Biographer, Is Allegedly His MistressIsabel Wilkinson
November 10, 2012
Historical Examples
Whately was a man of hobbies, and horticulture was one of these.
But the true man of that type had found all hobbies fail him.
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles DickensG. K. Chesterton
But the world, Auberon, the real world, is not run on these hobbies.
The Napoleon of Notting HillGilbert K. Chesterton
He chooses his hobbies and “rides” them entirely on his own initiative.
The Measurement of IntelligenceLewis Madison Terman
Cochran knew the Major intimately, his hobbies and aversions.
TerryCharles Goff Thomson
hobby1
- an activity pursued in spare time for pleasure or relaxation
- archaic, or dialect a small horse or pony
- short for hobbyhorse (def. 1)
- an early form of bicycle, without pedals
Word Origin
hobby2
- any of several small Old World falcons, esp the European Falco subbuteo, formerly used in falconry
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for hobbies
hobby
n.
late 13c., hobyn, "small horse, pony," later "mock horse used in the morris dance," and c.1550 "child's toy riding horse," which led to hobby-horse in a transferred sense of "favorite pastime or avocation," first recorded 1670s, shortened to hobby by 1816. The connecting notion being "activity that doesn't go anywhere." Probably originally a proper name for a horse (cf. dobbin), a diminutive of Robert or Robin. The original hobbyhorse was a "Tourney Horse," a wooden or basketwork frame worn around the waist and held on with shoulder straps, with a fake tail and horse head attached, so the wearer appears to be riding a horse. These were part of church and civic celebrations at Midsummer and New Year's throughout England.