hob

¹

[ hob ]

noun

1. a projection or shelf at the back or side of a fireplace, used for keeping food warm.
2. a rounded peg or pin used as a target in quoits and similar games.
3. a game in which such a peg is used.
4. Machinery. a milling cutter for gear and sprocket teeth, splines, threads, etc., having helically arranged teeth and fed across the work as the work is rotated.

verb (used with or without object)

, hobbed, hob·bing.

1. Machinery. to cut with a hob.

hob

²

[ hob ]

noun

1. a hobgoblin or elf.

hob

¹

/ hɒb /

noun

1. the flat top part of a cooking stove, or a separate flat surface, containing hotplates or burners
2. a shelf beside an open fire, for keeping kettles, etc, hot
3. a steel pattern used in forming a mould or die in cold metal
4. a hard steel rotating cutting tool used in machines for cutting gears

verb

1. tr to cut or form with a hob

hob

²

/ hɒb /

noun

1. a hobgoblin or elf
2. a male ferret
3. raise hob or play hob informal.
   to cause mischief or disturbance

Derived Forms

• ˈhobˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• hob·ber noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hob¹

First recorded in 1505–15; variant of obsolete hub “hob (in a fireplace)”; perhaps identical with hub

Origin of hob²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, special use of Hob(be), for Robert or Robin

Word History and Origins

Origin of hob¹

C16: variant of obsolete hubbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to hub

Origin of hob²

C14: variant of Rob, short for Robin or Robert

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. play hob with, to do mischief or harm to:

   The child played hob with my radio, and now it won't work at all.

2. raise hob, to cause a destructive commotion; behave disruptively:

   They raised such hob with their antagonistic questions that the meeting broke up.

Example Sentences

Her two gas hobs and one electric ring sit idle on the kitchen top, the room filling with smoke.

From BBC

"When they put the island back in, they broke the hob so then they had to go get a new hob."

From BBC

There are two four-ring hobs in the kitchen but only one of them works, they say, while the door of the microwave is broken.

From BBC

A specialist wok hob had also been delivered to the hotel’s kitchen.

From BBC

Indiana, 15, said: "At one point I was doing maths on a hob in catering. It's not ideal."

From BBC

Related Words

• gnome
• goblin
• imp
• leprechaun