hobby

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: hob=by

CIDE DICTIONARY

hobby, n. [OE. hobi; cf. OF. hobe, hobé, F. hobereau a hobby, a species of falcon. OF. hober to move, stir. Cf. Hobby a horse.].

 A small, strong-winged European falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking.

hobby, 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.].

•  A strong, active horse, of a middle size, said to have been originally from Ireland; an ambling nag.  Johnson.  [1913 Webster]
•  A stick, often with the head or figure of a horse, on which boys make believe to ride.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Not one of them has any hobbyhorse, to use the phrase of Sterne."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

hobby, n. (pl. -ies)
1 a favourite leisure-time activity or occupation.
2 archaic a small horse.
3 hist. an early type of velocipede.

Derivative

hobbyist n.

hobby, n. (pl. -ies) any of several small long-winged falcons, esp. Falco subbuteo, catching prey on the wing.

Etymology

ME f. OF hob{eacute}, hobet dimin. of hobe small bird of prey

ROGET THESAURUS

hobby

Pursuit

N pursuit, pursuing, prosecution, pursuance, enterprise, business, adventure, quest, scramble, hue and cry, game, hobby, still-hunt, chase, hunt, battue, race, steeple chase, hunting, coursing, venation, venery, fox chase, sport, sporting, shooting, angling, fishing, hawking, shikar (Geog loc:India), pursuer, hunter, huntsman, shikari (Geog loc:India), sportsman, Nimrod, hound, pursuing, in quest of, in pursuit, in full cry, in hot pursuit, on the scent, in pursuance of, after, Int, tallyho!, yoicks!, soho!.

Desire

N desire, wish, fancy, fantasy, want, need, exigency, mind, inclination, leaning, bent, animus, partiality, penchant, predilection, propensity, willingness, liking, love, fondness, relish, longing, hankering, inkling, solicitude, anxiety, yearning, coveting, aspiration, ambition, vaulting ambition, eagerness, zeal, ardor, empressement, breathless impatience, overanxiety, impetuosity, appetite, appetition, appetence, appetency, sharp appetite, keenness, hunger, stomach, twist, thirst, thirstiness, drouth, mouthwatering, itch, itching, prurience, cacoethes, cupidity, lust, concupiscence, edge of appetite, edge of hunger, torment of Tantalus, sweet tooth, lickerish tooth, itching palm, longing eye, wistful eye, sheep's eye, greed, voracity, passion, rage, furore, mania, manie, inextinguishable desire, dipsomania, kleptomania, lover, amateur, votary, devotee, aspirant, solicitant, candidate, applicant, supplicant, cormorant, desideratum, want, a consummation devoutly to be wished, attraction, magnet, allurement, fancy, temptation, seduction, fascination, prestige, height of one's ambition, idol, whim, whimsy, whimsey, maggot, hobby, hobby-horse, Fortunatus's cap, wishing cap, wishing stone, wishing well, desirous, desiring, inclined, partial to, fain, wishful, optative, anxious, wistful, curious, at a loss for, sedulous, solicitous, craving, hungry, sharp-set, peckish, ravening, with an empty stomach, esurient, lickerish, thirsty, athirst, parched with thirst, pinched with hunger, famished, dry, drouthy, hungry as a hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a horse, hungry as a church mouse, hungry as a bear, greedy, unsatisfied, unsated, unslaked, unsaturated, eager, avid, keen, burning, fervent, ardent, agog, all agog, breathless, impatient, bent on, intent on, set on, bent upon, intent upon, set upon, mad after, enrage, rabid, dying for, devoured by desire, aspiring, ambitious, vaulting, skyaspiring, high-reaching, desirable, desired, in demand, pleasing, appetizing, appetible, tantalizing, wistfully, fain, Int, would that, would that it were!, O for!, esto perpetual, the wish being father to the thought, sua cuique voluptas, hoc erat in votis, the mouth watering, the fingers itching, aut Caesar aut nullus, Cassius has a lean and hungry look, hungry as the grave, I was born to other things, not what we wish but what we want, such joy ambition finds, the sea hath bounds but deep desire hath none, ubi mel ibi apes.

Misjudgment

N misjudgment, obliquity of judgment, miscalculation, miscomputation, misconception, hasty conclusion, prejudgment, prejudication, prejudice, foregone conclusion, prenotion, prevention, preconception, predilection, prepossession, preapprehension, presumption, assumption, presentiment, fixed idea, preconceived idea, id_ee fixe, mentis gratissimus error, fool's paradise, esprit de corps, party spirit, partisanship, clannishness, prestige, bias, bigotry, warp, twist, hobby, fad, quirk, crotchet, partiality, infatuation, blind side, mote in the eye, one-sided views, one-track mind, partial views, narrow views, confined views, superficial views, one- sided ideas, partial ideas, narrow ideas, confined ideas, superficial ideas, one-sided conceptions, partial conceptions, narrow conceptions, confined conceptions, superficial conceptions, one-sided notions, partial notions, narrow notions, confined notions, superficial notions, narrow mind, bigotry, odium theologicum, pedantry, hypercriticism, doctrinaire, overestimation, underestimation, ignorance, erroneous assumptions, erroneous data, mistaken assumptions, incorrect assumptions (error), misjudging, ill-judging, wrong-headed, prejudiced, jaundiced, shortsighted, purblind, partial, one-sided, superficial, narrow-minded, narrow-souled, mean-spirited, confined, illiberal, intolerant, besotted, infatuated, fanatical, entete, positive, dogmatic, conceited, opinative, opiniative, opinioned, opinionate, opinionative, opinionated, self-opinioned, wedded to an opinion, opini=atre, bigoted, crotchety, fussy, impracticable, unreasonable, stupid credulous, warped, misjudged, ex parte, nothing like leather, the wish the father to the thought, wishful thinking, unshakable conviction, my mind is made up - don't bother me with the fact.