hoary 
Haply some Aoary-headed swain may say, 
Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn. 
Oray, Elegy. 
3. Figuratively, remote iu time past: as, hoary 
antiquity. 4f. Musty; moldy: as, hoary bread. 
5. In hot. and entom., covered with short, 
dense, grayish-white hairs ; cauescent. 
hoast (host), n. [Also haunt; < Icel. hosti = 
Sw. hosta = Dan. haute = reg. E. (dial.) whoost, 
q. v. ; not connected with hoarse, but ult. with 
pose**, a cough, cold in the head.] A cough. 
[Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
He [John Knox] became so feeble with a hoast that he 
could not continue his ordlnar task of reading the Scrip- 
tures. D. Calderwood, Hist. Ch. of Scotland, p. 60. 
They were all cracking like pen-guns ; but I gave them 
a sign by a loud boost that Providence sees all. 
Gait, Annals of the Parish, ii. 
I'll make him a treacle-posset ; it's a famous thing for 
keeping off hoasls. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, xxiv. 
hoast (host), v. i. [< hoast, n.] To cough. 
[Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
hoastlert, . An obsolete spelling of hostler. 
hoatzin, . Same as hoactzin. 
hoax (hoks), n. [A contr. form, in altered spell- 
ing (for "liokes, as coax for cokes' 2 ), of hocus, q. 
v. The word is recent, and has no connection, 
as alleged, with ME. hux (only in Layamon, 
about A. D. 1205), < AS. hues, hucx, in comp. 
hux-, huse-, scorn, mockery, derision, = OLG. 
OHG. hose, derision, or with ME. hoker, < AS. 
Itocor (rare), scorn, mockery, derision.] 1. A 
humorous or mischievous deception ; a practi- 
cal joke ; usually, a marvelous or exciting fab- 
rication or fiction gravely related as a test of 
credulity. 
Has the modern world no hoax of its own, answering to 
the Eleusinian mysteries of Grecian days ? 
De Quincey, Secret Societies, ii. 
It is difficult to believe that ... he ... would have 
been scared by so silly a hoax. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng. , xxi. 
2. One who misleads or deceives; a hoaxer; a 
humbug. [Rare.] 
Thus Lady Widgery had always been rushed for and con- 
tended for by the other sex ; and one husband had hardly 
time to be cold in his grave before the air was filled with 
the rivalry of candidates to her hand ; and after all the 
beautiful little hoax had nothing for it but her attractive 
soul-case. R. B. Stmtie, Oldtown, p. 292. 
The moon hoax, a famous account of pretended wonder- 
ful discoveries in the moon by Sir John Herschel in his ob- 
servations at the Cape of Good Hope, published by Richard 
Adams Locke in the "New York Sun in 1835, and so plau- 
sibly constructed as to deceive for a time the public at large, 
and even some scientific men. It was separately pub- 
lished in several editions at home and abroad. De Mor- 
gan,in "A Budget of Paradoxes"(London, 1872), putsforth 
the supposition that its real author was J. N. Nicollet, a 
French astronomer in the United States. 
hoax (hoks), v. t. [A contr. form of hocus, v. : 
see hoax, n., and hocus.'] To deceive by an amus- 
ing or mischievous fabrication or fiction ; play 
upon the credulity of. 
M. was hoaxing you surely about my engraving ; 'tis a 
little sixpenny thing, too like by half. Lamb, To Barton. 
hoaxer (hok'ser), . One who hoaxes. 
hoazin, . Same as hoactein. 
hob 1 (hob), n. [In another form hub, q. v. ; a 
dial, word of obscure origin. Not connected 
with Dan. hob (= E. heap) or with W. hob, a 
measure of capacity, or with W. hob, swine.] 
1. A round stick, stake, or pin used as a mark 
to throw at in certain games, as in quoits or the 
game called hob. 
To play at this game [of quoits], an iron pin, called a 
hob, is driven into the ground, within a few inches of the 
top. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 141. 
2. A boys' game in which halfpence are set on 
the end of a round stick (the hob), at which 
something (as a stone) is pitched. When the hob 
is knocked down, all the halfpence that fall with then- 
heads upward are the pitcher's, and the rest are set up 
again on the hob to be pitched at. [Eng. ] 
3. A hardened threaded steel mandrel for cut- 
ting a comb or chasing-tool. 
Instruments known as hobs are also employed in form- 
ing the cutting ends of screw-chasing tools for use iu the 
lathe. C. P. B. Shelley, Workshop Appliances, p. 100. 
This portion was ground, milled, or filed to an edge, and 
then was chased on a hob, or master tap of flue thread. 
Sri. Amer., N. 8., LIV. 145. 
4. The nave of a wheel: same as hub, 7. 5. 
A structure inserted in a fireplace to diminish 
its width, originally introduced when broad 
open fireplaces were first fitted with grates for 
the burning of coal ; also, the level top of such 
a structure, forming a space upon which any- 
thing can be set which it is desired to keep hot. 
They compounded some hot mixture in a jug . . . and 
put it on the hob to simmer. 
Dickens, Christmas Carol, p. 44. 
2847 
6. The shoe of a sledge. [Prov. Eng. (York- 
shire ) . ] To play hob, to cause great confusion : often 
used satirically : as, you'll play hob (that is, you cannot or 
shall not do the thing you propose). [Slang.] To Play 
hob, with, to upset, derange, or damage : as, this law will 
play hob with his trade. [Slang.] 
hob 2 (hob), n. [A generalized use of Hob, a 
familiar form of Robin, Robert, like Hodge, q. 
v., for Roger. From Hob are derived the sur- 
names Hobbs, Hobbins, Hobson, Hopkins, Hop- 
kinson, etc. See Robin, Robin Goodfellow.] 1. 
A countryman; a rustic; an awkward, clownish 
fellow. [Obsolete or rare.] 
Many of the country hobs, who had gotten an estate 
liable to a fine, took It at first as a least. 
Select Lives of Eng. Worthies. 
2f. A sprite ; an elf ; a hobgoblin. 
From elves, hobs, and fairies, . . . 
Defend us, good Heaven ! 
Fletcher, Monsieur Thomas, iv. 6. 
Hob's pound, a difficulty ; a scrape. Dames. 
What ! are you all in Hob's pound > Well, they as will 
may let you out for me. Miss Burney, Camilla, iv. 8. 
hoballt, n. [Also howball, hobhold, etc.; origin 
obscure. Cf . hobble and hob 2 .] A fool ; a dolt. 
The worst of them no howball, ne no foole. 
Thynn, Debate between Pride and Lowliness. 
Ye are such a calfe, such an asse, such a blocke, 
Such a lilburne, such a hoball, such a lobcocke. 
Udall, Koister Doister, iii. 3. 
hob-a-nob, hob-and-nob (hob'a-nob', -and- 
nob'), adv. Same as liobnob. 
hob-a-nob, hob-and-nob (hob'a-nob', -and- 
nob'), v. i. Same as hobnob. 
Perchance that very hand, now pinioned flat, 
Has hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass ! 
H. Smith, To a Mummy. 
Slip-shod waiter, lank and sour, 
At the Dragon on the heath ! 
Let us have a quiet hour, 
Let us hob-and-nob with Death. 
Tennyson, Vision of Sin, iv. 
hobbedehoy, hobbedyhoy, hobbadehoy (hob'- 
e-de-hoi', hob'a-de-hoi'), n. Same as hobblede- 
hoy. 
hobbedyhoyish (hob'e-de-hoi'ish), a. See hob- 
bledehoy ish. 
When Master Daw full fourteen years had told, 
He grew, as it is termed, hobbedyhoyinh. 
Caiman, Poetical Vagaries, p. 12. 
Hobbesian (hob'zi-an), a. [< Hobbes (see Hobb- 
ism) + -ian.~\ Of or pertaining to Thomas 
Hobbes or his doctrines. See Hobbism. 
The Hobbesian war of each against all was the normal 
state of existence. 
Huxley, Nineteenth Century, XXIII. 165. 
Hobbism (hob'izm), n. [< Hobb-es (see def .) + 
-ism.] The doctrines of Thomas Hobbes (1588- 
1679), an English philosopher. He advocated abso- 
lute monarchy as the oest form of government, and unre- 
served submission on the part of the subject to the will of 
the sovereign in all things, religious and moral as well as 
political. His philosophical views were sensualistic and 
materialistic. In logic Hobbes was an extreme nominalist. 
In psychology he is remembered as having revived the 
doctrine of the association of ideas. 
Hobbist (hob'ist), n. One who accepts the doc- 
trines of Thomas Hobbes. See Hobbism. 
Many Hobbists do report that Mr. Selden was at the 
heart an Infidel, and inclined to the Opinions of Hobbs. 
Baxter, Sir M. Hale (ed. 1682X p. 40. 
hobble (hob'l), v. ; pret. and pp. hobbled, ppr. 
hobbling. [< ME. hobelen (= D. hobbelen, toss, 
ride on a hobby-horse, stutter, stammer, = G. 
dial, hoppeln, hop, hobble), var. of "hoppelen, 
E. hopple (used in trans, sense), freq. of hop 1 , 
v.: see hopple, hop 1 . W. hobelu, hop, hobble, is 
prob. < E. hobble.] I. intrans. I. To go with a 
hop or hitch; walk with a hitch ; go on crutches ; 
go lamely ; limp. 
We haunten none tavernes ne hobelen abouten. 
Piers Plowman's Crede, 1. 106. 
And dances like a town top ; and reels, and hobble*. 
Fletcher and Shirley, Night-Walker, i. 
The friar was hobbling the same way too. Dryden. 
And there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the ter- 
rible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bed- 
room. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, v. 
2. To dance. [Scotch.] 
Minstrels, blaw up ane brawl of France ; 
Let se quha hobbits best. 
Lyndtay, S. P. K., II. 201. 
3. To move roughly or irregularly, as verse. 
II. trans. 1 . To tie the legs of together so as 
to impede or prevent free motion ; clog ; hop- 
ple. 
I am ready to go down to the place where your uncle 
has hobbled his teams. Cooper. 
The mules have strayed, being insufficiently hobbled. 
Froude, Sketches, p. 212. 
2f. To perplex ; embarrass. 
hobbler 
I could give no account of myself (that was the thing that 
always hobbled me). Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, cxix. 
hobble (hob'l), n. [< hobble, t'.] 1. An un- 
equal, halting gait ; a limp ; an awkward step. 
One of his heels is higher than the other, which gives 
him a hobble in his gait. Siv\ft, Gulliver's Travels, i. 4. 
2. Difficulty; perplexity; scrape. 
Now Captain Cleveland will get us out of this /.../,/,/, . if 
any can. Scott, Pirate, xxxiv. 
The army of the Spanish kings got out of a sad hobble 
among the mountains at the Pass of Losa by the help of a 
shepherd, who showed them the way. 
Bulteer, Caxtons, xiv. 1. 
3. Anything used to hamper the feet of an ani- 
mal, especially a rope tied to the fore legs of a 
horse to insure its being caught when wanted ; 
a clog; a fetter. Hobbles are made of leather and 
also of iron, in various patterns ; and the name of one 
such article is then commonly in the plural, like hand- 
cuffs, manacles, shackles, etc. : as, to put the hobbles on a 
horse or mule. 
hobble-bobble (hob'l-bob'l), . Another form 
of hubble-bubble, I. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
hobble-bush (hob'1-bush), . [< hobble (uncer- 
tain) + tush 1 .'] A low bush (Viburnum lan- 
tanoidcs) found in the northern United States. 
Branches of Hobble-bush (Viburnum lantanoictes) with flowers 
and fruit, a, fertile flower, front view ; b t same, back view ; c , sterile 
flower. 
Its leaves are round-ovate, abruptly pointed, heart-shaped 
at the base, and closely serrate, the veins and veinlets being 
underneath ; the stalks and branchlets are very rusty and 
scurfy. The (lowers are large and handsome, in broad, 
flat, sessile cymes. 
hobbledehoy (hob'1-de-hoi'), n. [Also hobbede- 
hoy, hobbedyhoy, hobbadehoy; earliest instance 
perhaps hobledehoy (Palsgrave, 1540) ; appar. of 
popular origin, prop, 'hobbledyhoy, < *hobbledy, 
extended from hobble (cf . higgledy-piggledy, simi- 
larly extended from higgle, etc.), + hoy, appar. 
an unmeaning syllable. Cf. hobbledygee, hobble- 
depoise. ' ' Tusser says the third age of seven 
years is to be kept ' under Sir Hobbard de Hoy ' " 
(Halliwell) a humorous twist of the word.] 
1. A stripling; a youth in the half- formed age 
preceding manhood; a raw, awkward youth. 
James, then a hobbadehoy, was now become a young 
man. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xxxiv. 
I was then a Hobble-de-Hoy, and you a pretty little tight 
Girl, a favourite Hand maid of the Housekeeper. 
Steele, Conscious Lovers, iil. 1. 
At the epoch I speak about, I was between 
A man and a boy, 
A hobble-de-hoy. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 124. 
There was a terrific roaring on the grass in front of the 
house, occasioned by all the men, boys, and hobbledehoys 
attached to the farm. Dickens. 
We are in process of transformation, still in the hobble- 
dehoy period, not having ceased to be a college, nor yet 
having reached the full manhood of a university. 
Lowell, Harvard Anniversary. 
2. A large unmanageable top. Halliwell. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
hobbledehoyish (hob'1-de-hoi'ish), a. [Also 
hobbedyhoyish; < hobbledehoy + -ish.] Like a 
hobbledehoy. 
hobbledepoise (hob'1-de-poiz'), a. [Irreg. < 
hobble + poise, after hobbledygee, hobbledehoy.] 
1. In unstable equilibrium ; unevenly balanced. 
Hence 2. Wavering in mind. [Prov. Eng. 
in both senses.] 
hobbledygee (hob'1-di-ie'), adv. [Cf. hobble- 
dcpoise, hobbledehoy.] With a limping or gal- 
loping movement. Halliwell. 
'Long comes the country man, 
Hobbledygee, hobbledygee ! Nursery rime. 
hobbler 1 (hob'lr), . [< hobble + -er 1 .] One 
who or that which hobbles. 
hobbler-', hobler (hob'ler), . [< ME. hob- 
li'i: hobeler, hobiler, < OF. (AF.) hobder, hobi- 
Icr, liubelier, hobler, also hobeleor, hobelmir, also 
