hob

1
[ hob ]
See 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.

  1. a game in which such a peg is used.

  2. 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
First recorded in 1505–15; variant of obsolete hub “hob (in a fireplace)”; perhaps identical with hub

Other words from hob

  • hob·ber, noun

Other definitions for hob (2 of 2)

hob2
[ hob ]

noun
  1. a hobgoblin or elf.

Origin of hob

2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, special use of Hob(be), for Robert or Robin

Other words from hob

  • hob·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hob in a sentence

  • There was nothing for him but to close his window also, and to come back and put his feet on the hobs.

    The Conspirators | Alexandre Dumas (Pere)
  • Two great jacks of brown brandy came in, and were placed upon the table, and two silver kettles upon the hobs.

    The Maid of Sker | Richard Doddridge Blackmore
  • Hungarian nails are much to be preferred to hobs, and only a light studding of soles and heels is most effective.

    Glacier National Park [Montana] | United States Dept. of the Interior
  • Two iron pins or hobs were stuck in the ground, about eighteen yards apart.

    Ernest Bracebridge | William H. G. Kingston
  • Calvert gives a long list of hobs but does not give any idea of their disposition.

British Dictionary definitions for hob (1 of 2)

hob1

/ (hɒb) /


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

  1. a steel pattern used in forming a mould or die in cold metal

  2. a hard steel rotating cutting tool used in machines for cutting gears

verbhobs, hobbing or hobbed
  1. (tr) to cut or form with a hob

Origin of hob

1
C16: variant of obsolete hubbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to hub

British Dictionary definitions for hob (2 of 2)

hob2

/ (hɒb) /


noun
  1. a hobgoblin or elf

  2. a male ferret

  1. raise hob or play hob US informal to cause mischief or disturbance

Origin of hob

2
C14: variant of Rob, short for Robin or Robert

Derived forms of hob

  • hoblike, adjective

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