Part 854

Hob"ble, v. t. 1. To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog. " They hobbled their horses." Dickens

2. To perplex; to embarrass.

Hob"ble, n. 1. An unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in his gait. Swift.

2. Same as Hopple.

3. Difficulty; perplexity; embarrassment. Waterton.

Hob"ble*bush` (?), n. (Bot.) A low bush (Viburnum lantanoides) having long, straggling branches and handsome flowers. It is found in the Northern United States. Called also shinhopple.

{ Hob"ble*de*hoy` (?), Hob"ble*te*hoy` (?), } n. [Written also hobbetyhoy, hobbarddehoy, hobbedehoy, hobdehoy.] [ Cf. Prob. E. hobbledygee with a limping movement; also F. hobereau, a country squire, E. hobby, and OF. hoi to-day; perh. the orig. sense was, an upstart of to-day.] A youth between boy and man; an awkward, gawky young fellow . [Colloq.]

All the men, boys, and hobbledehoys attached to the farm.

Dickens. .

Hob"bler (?), n. One who hobbles.

Hob"bler, n. [OE. also hobeler, OF. hobelier, LL. hobellarius. See Hobby a horse.] (Eng. Hist.) One who by his tenure was to maintain a horse for military service; a kind of light horseman in the Middle Ages who was mounted on a hobby. Hallam. Sir J. Davies.

Hob"bling*ly (?), adv. With a limping step.

Hob"bly (?), a. Rough; uneven; causing one to hobble; as a hobbly road.

Hob"by (?), n.; pl. Hobbies (#). [OE. hobi; cf. OF. hobe, hobÈ, F. hobereau a hobby, a species of falcon. OF. hober to move, stir. Cf. Hobby a horse.] (Zoˆl.) A small, strong-winged European falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking.

{ Hob"by (?), 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.

Hob`by*hors"ic*al (?), n. Pertaining to, or having, a hobby or whim; eccentric; whimsical.[Colloq.] Sterne.

Hob"gob`lin (?), n. [See 2d Hob, and Goblin.] A frightful goblin; an imp; a bugaboo; also, a name formerly given to the household spirit, Robin Goodfellow. Macaulay.

Hob"i*ler (?), n.[See 2d Hobbler.] A light horseman. See 2d Hobbler. [Obs.] Brande & C.

Ho"bit (?), n. [See Howitzer.] (Mil.) A small mortar on a gun carriage, in use before the howitzer.

Hob"nail` (?), n. [1st hob + nail.] 1. A short, sharp-pointed, large- headed nail, -- used in shoeing houses and for studding the soles of heavy shoes.

2. A clownish person; a rustic. Milton.

Hobnail liver (Med.), a disease in which the liver is shrunken, hard, and covered with projections like hobnails; one of the forms of cirrhosis of the liver.

Hob"nail`, v. t. To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes.

Your rights and charters hobnailed into slush.