<B>Hobbism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes; theory that without an absolute government, anarchy will prevail. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbist">
<B>Hobbist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an advocate of Hobbism. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbit">
<B>hobbit, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of an imaginary race of genial, elflike creatures who love peace, pleasure, and beauty, created by the British writer J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973). </DL>
<A NAME="hobble">
<B>hobble, </B>verb, <B>-bled,</B> <B>-bling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to walk awkwardly; limp. <BR> <I>Ex. The wounded man hobbled away.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to move unsteadily; wobble. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) She hobbles in alternate verse (Matthew Prior).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cause to walk awkwardly or limp. <DD><B> 2. </B>to tie the legs of (a horse, camel, or other large animal) together. <BR> <I>Ex. He hobbled his horse at night so that it would not wander away.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=hinder.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an awkward walk; limp. <DD><B> 2. </B>a rope or strap used to hobble a horse or other large animal. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) an awkward or difficult situation. <BR> <I>Ex. Pray get out of this hobble as fast as you can (Byron).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="hobblebush">
<B>hobblebush, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a shrub of the honeysuckle family found in eastern North America, having clusters of white flowers and a purple, berrylike fruit. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbledehoy">
<B>hobbledehoy, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an awkward, clumsy boy. <DD><B> 2. </B>a youth between boyhood and manhood. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbler">
<B>hobbler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one that hobbles. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbleskirt">
<B>hobble skirt,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a woman's skirt that is very narrow below the knees, usually tapering to the bottom. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbling">
<B>hobbling, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that hobbles; wobbling; limping. adv. <B>hobblingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="hobby">
<B>hobby</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>-bies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>something a person especially likes to work at or study which is not his main business; any favorite pastime or topic of conversation. <BR> <I>Ex. Growing roses is our doctor's hobby. No man is really happy or safe without a hobby (Sir William Osler).</I> (SYN) avocation. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=hobbyhorse.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>(British Dialect.) a small or medium-sized horse. <BR><I>expr. <B>ride a hobby,</B> </I>to give too much time or attention to one's hobby. <BR> <I>Ex. Transgress the boundaries of scientific evidence, and incur the charge of riding a hobby too hard (Archibald H. Sayce).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="hobby">
<B>hobby</B> (2), noun, pl. <B>-bies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small European falcon, with very long wings, formerly used in hawking larks and other small birds. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbyhorse">
<B>hobbyhorse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a stick with a horse's head, used as a child's plaything. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=rocking horse.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>a horse on a merry-go-round. <DD><B> 4a. </B>a figure of a horse, made of light material and fastened about the waist of a performer, especially in a morris dance or pantomime. <DD><B> b. </B>the performer himself. <DD><B> 5. </B>a hobby; favorite pastime or topic of conversation. <BR> <I>Ex. This was the band of propagandists whose hobbyhorse had long been fighting the United Nations (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>English bicycle of the early 1800's. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Obsolete.) <DD><B> a. </B>a foolish fellow; buffoon. <DD><B> b. </B>a lewd person. </DL>
<A NAME="hobbyist">
<B>hobbyist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who is much interested in his hobby or hobbies. </DL>
<A NAME="hobgoblin">
<B>hobgoblin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a goblin; elf. (SYN) sprite. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a bogy; bugbear. <BR> <I>Ex. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an alarming or terrifying ghost or phantom. </DL>
<A NAME="hobnail">
<B>hobnail, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a short nail with a large head to protect the soles of heavy shoes and boots. <DD><B> 2. </B>a rustic; clodhopper; buffoon. </DL>
<A NAME="hobnailed">
<B>hobnailed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>furnished with hobnails. <BR> <I>Ex. hobnailed boots.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>rustic or cloddish. </DL>
<A NAME="hobnailglass">
<B>hobnail glass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> pressed glassware with a pattern of small, raised bumps, made during the 1800's. </DL>
<A NAME="hobnob">
<B>hobnob, </B>verb, <B>-nobbed,</B> <B>-nobbling,</B> noun, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to be on familiar terms; associate intimately. <BR> <I>Ex. He hobnobs with some important people.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to drink together. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a familiar association or conversation. <DD><B> 2. </B>a drinking together. <DD><I>adv. </I> (British Dialect.) haphazard. noun <B>hobnobber.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="hobo">
<B>hobo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bos</B> or <B>-boes,</B> verb, <B>-boed,</B> <B>-boing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person who wanders about and lives by begging or doing odd jobs; tramp. <DD><B> 2. </B>a migratory workman. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to live as a hobo. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to make (one's way) in the manner of a hobo. <BR> <I>Ex. At eighteen he hoboed his way to the Kansas wheat fields (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="hobodom">
<B>hobodom, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the world of the hobo or hobos. </DL>
<A NAME="hobsonschoice">
<B>Hobson's choice,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the choice of taking the thing offered or nothing. <BR> <I>Ex. The exercise of this clause resulted in a Hobson's choice for the player--he could either renew his contract or quit organized baseball (Richard E. Day).</I> </DL>
<B>Hochheimer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Rhine wine made at Hochheim, Germany. </DL>
<A NAME="hock">
<B>hock</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the joint in the hind leg of a horse, cow, or other four-legged animal, above the fetlock joint, corresponding to the ankle of man but raised from the ground and protruding backward when bent. <DD><B> 2. </B>the corresponding joint in the leg of a fowl. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to cripple by cutting the tendons of the hock; hamstring. Also, <B>hough.</B> </DL>
<B>hock</B> (3), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to pawn. <DD><I>noun </I> pawn; debt. <BR><I>expr. <B>in hock,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>in another's possession as security; in pawn. </I> <I>Ex. Among rare types of Americans are those who at this time of year place their winter clothing, including furs, in hock (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>in debt. <BR> <I>Ex. He is in hock because he spends more than he earns.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>out of hock,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>no longer in another's possession as security. </I> <I>Ex. He paid the pawnshop and got his watch out of hock.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>no longer in debt. <BR> <I>Ex. After one more payment on the car, we will be out of hock.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="hocket">
<B>hocket, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an interruption of a voice part by rests to produce a broken, spasmodic effect. <DD><B> 2. </B>a composition in which this effect is used. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to interrupt vocal parts for expressive purposes. <BR> <I>Ex. the three hocketing horns in the second movement (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="hockey">
<B>hockey, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eys.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a game played by two teams on ice or on a field. The players hit a rubber disk or a ball with curved sticks to drive it into or across a goal. The game played on ice is ice hockey, with six on a team; the game played on a field is field hockey, with eleven on a team. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=hockey stick.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="hockeyskate">
<B>hockey skate,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an ice skate with a straight, heavy blade and a strong, heavy shoe, for playing hockey. </DL>
<A NAME="hockeystick">
<B>hockey stick,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a stick that is curved at the bottom, used in playing hockey. </DL>
<A NAME="hockshop">
<B>hock shop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a pawnshop. </DL>
<A NAME="hocus">
<B>hocus, </B>transitive verb, <B>-cused,</B> <B>-cusing</B> or (especially British) <B>-cussed,</B> <B>-cussing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to play a trick upon; hoax; cheat. <DD><B> 2. </B>to stupefy with drugs. <DD><B> 3. </B>to put drugs in (alcoholic drink). </DL>
<A NAME="hocuspocus">
<B>hocus-pocus, </B>noun, verb, <B>-cused,</B> <B>-cusing</B> or (especially British) <B>-cussed,</B> <B>-cussing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a meaningless form of words used in performing magic tricks. <DD><B> 2. </B>sleight of hand; magic. <DD><B> 3. </B>trickery; deception. <BR> <I>Ex. If Mr. Mahoney is to be faulted at all it is because of a tendency to resort to some old vaudeville hocus-pocus (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) a conjurer; juggler. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to play tricks; practice deception. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to play tricks on or with. Also, <B>hokey-pokey.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="hod">
<B>hod, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a trough or tray with a long, straight handle, used by builders for carrying bricks or mortar on the shoulder. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=coal scuttle.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="hodad">
<B>ho-dad, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Surfing.) a person who doesn't surf or who surfs poorly. </DL>
<A NAME="hodcarrier">
<B>hod carrier,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a laborer employed to carry bricks, mortar, and the like in a hod. </DL>
<A NAME="hodden">
<B>hodden, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) a coarse cloth of undyed wool sometimes called hodden gray. </DL>
<A NAME="hodgepodge">
<B>hodgepodge, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a disorderly mixture; mess; jumble. <BR> <I>Ex. Her room was a hodgepodge of things strewn all over the floor. The result has been a hodgepodge of misinformation (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists). So now they have made our English tongue a ... hodgepodge of all other speeches (Edmund Spenser).</I> (SYN) mishmash, medley, farrago. <DD><B> 2. </B>a stew containing a variety of ingredients. Also, <B>hotchpotch.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="hodgkinsdisease">
<B>Hodgkin's disease,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an often fatal, cancerous disease of the lymphatic tissue, characterized by enlargement of the spleen and lymph nodes; lymphogranulomatosis. </DL>
