Dictionary: HO'BIT – HOE

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HO'BIT, n. [Sp. hobus; G. haubitze.]

A small mortar, or short gun for throwing bombs. [See Howitzer, the common orthography.]

HOB'LIKE, a.

Clownish; boorish. Colgrave.

HOB'NAIL, n. [G. hufnagel, hoof-nail.]

  1. A nail with a thick strong head, for shoeing horses. Shak.
  2. A clownish person; in contempt. Milton.

HOB'NAIL-ED, a.

Set with hobnails; rough. Dryden.

HOB'NOB, adv. [Qu. Sax. habban, næbban, have, not have.]

Take, or not take; a familiar invitation to reciprocal drinking. Shak.

HOB-O-MOK'KO, n.

Among American Indians, an evil spirit.

HO'BOY, n.

See HAUTBOY.

HOBSON'S-CHOICE, n. [Hobson's choice.]

A vulgar proverbial expression, denoting without an alternative. It is said to have had its origin in the name of a person who let horses and coaches, and obliged every customer to take in his turn that horse which stood next the stable door. Encyc.

HOCK, n.1 [Sax. hoh. See Hough.]

  1. The joint of an animal between the knee and the fetlock. Johnson.
  2. A part of the thigh.

HOCK, n.2 [from Hochheim, in Germany.]

A sort of Rhenish wine; sometimes called hockamore. Mortimer.

HOCK, or HOCK'LE, v.t.

To hamstring; to hough; to disable by cutting the tendons of the ham.

HOCK'DAY, or HOKE'DAY, n.

High day; a day of feasting and mirth, formerly held in England the second Tuesday after Easter, to commemorate the destruction of the Danes in the time of Ethelred. Encyc.

HOCK'ED, pp.

Hamstrung; disabled by cutting the tendons of the ham.

HOCK'EY, n. [G. hoch, Sax. heah, high. Qu.]

Harvest-home. [Not used.]

HOCK'HERB, n.

A plant, the mallows. Ainsworth.

HOCK'LE, v.t.

  1. To hamstring. Hanmer.
  2. To mow. Mason.

HO-CUS-PO'CUS, n. [HO-CUS PO'CUS. W. hoced, a cheat or trick, and perhaps bwg or pwca, a hobgoblin.]

A juggler; a juggler's trick; a cheat used by conjurers. Hudibras.

HO-CUS-PO'CUS, v.t.

To cheat. L'Estrange.

HOD, n. [Fr. hotte.]

A kind of tray for carrying mortar and brick, used in bricklaying. It is fitted with a handle and borne on the shoulder.

HOD'DY-DOD-DY, n.

An awkward or foolish person. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

HODGE'-PODGE, or HOTCH'-POTCH, n. [Qu. Fr. hocher, to shake, or hachis, minced meat.]

A mixed mass; a medley of ingredients. [Vulgar.] [See Hotchpot.]

HO-DI-ERN'AL, a. [L. hodiernus, from hodie, hoc die, this day.]

Of this day; belonging to the present day.

HOD'MAN, n.

A man who carries a hod; a mason's tender.

HOD'MAN-DOD, n.

  1. A shell-fish, otherwise called dodman. Bacon.
  2. A shell-snail.

HOE, n. [ho; G. haue; Sw. hacka, and this is the Dan. hakke, G. hacke, a mattock; Fr. houe. It seems this is from the root of hack and hew; Sax. heawian; D. houwen; G. hacken, Sw. hacka, Dan. hakker, to chop, to hack, to hew; Fr. houer.]

A farmer's instrument for cutting up weeds and loosening the earth in fields and gardens. It is in shape something like an adz, being a plate of iron, with an eye for a handle, which is set at an acute angle with the plate.