Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A goose.
  • noun A stupid fellow.
  • noun A strong active horse of medium size having an ambling gait; a pacing horse; a nag; a garran.
  • noun Same as hobby-horse, 3.
  • noun Any favorite object, pursuit, or topic; that which a person persistently pursues or dwells upon with zeal or delight, as if riding a horse.
  • noun A small European falcon of the genus Falco and subgenus Hypotriorchis, H subbuteo.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A strong, active horse, of a middle size, said to have been originally from Ireland; an ambling nag.
  • noun A stick, often with the head or figure of a horse, on which boys make believe to ride.
  • noun 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.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A small, strong-winged European falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
  • noun horses An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby
  • noun Any of four species of small falcons in the genus Falco, especially Falco subbuteo.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an auxiliary activity
  • noun small Old World falcon formerly trained and flown at small birds
  • noun a child's plaything consisting of an imitation horse mounted on rockers; the child straddles it and pretends to ride

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened from hobby-horse, from Middle English hobyn, hobin ("small horse, pony"). The meaning of hobby-horse shifted from "small horse, pony" to "child's toy riding horse" to "favorite pastime or avocation" with the connecting notion being "activity that doesn't go anywhere". Possibly originally from a proper name for a horse, a diminutive of Robert or Robin (compare dobbin).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hobby.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A type of raptor. Illustrated here.

    August 26, 2008

  • Could be this critter. :-)

    August 26, 2008

  • I didn't know a hobby was a bird 'til I read this: "If the walking hadn't been so strenuous, she might have enjoyed the view more, the great rolling swards of chalk grassland stretching out golden in all directions, skies dotted with hobby and merlin, circling, anxious to be off south."

    - The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff, p 95

    June 26, 2010