Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
- 1,538
- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Hŏb'bĭsm, n. p. 630The principles of Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher of the 17th century; especially, the doctrine which he has been ignorantly charged with holding, that a monarch's opinion is the test of true…Hŏb'bĭst, n. p. 630A follower of Hobbes. See HOBBISM.Hŏb'ble, v. i. p. 630To walk lamely, bearing chiefly on one leg; to limp; to walk with a hitch or hop, or with crutches. The friar was hobbling the same way too. Dryden. 2. To move roughly or irregularly. “The hobbling…Hŏb'ble, v. t. p. 630To fasten loosely together the legs of; to hopple; to clog. “They hobbled their horses.” Dickens. 2. To perplex; to embarrass. [Obs.]Hŏb'ble, n. p. 630An unequal, halting gait; an incumbered, awkward step. He has a hobble in his gait. Swift. 2. Difficulty; perplexity. If thou hast got into a hobble to-day, thou shalt not suffer for it. Waterton.Hŏb'ble-bush, n. p. 631(Bot.) A low bush (Viburnum lantanoides), having long, straggling branches, and handsome flowers. It is found in the Northern States. Gray.Hŏb'ble-de-hoy' or Hŏb'ble-te-hoy', n. p. 631A stripling; a boy between fourteen and twenty-one. [Colloq.] Auntie would fain become a mother, and, in order thereunto, a wife, and waylays a hobbletehoy. Prof. Wilson.Hŏb'bler, n. p. 631One who hobbles.Hōb'bler, n. p. 631One who by his tenure was to maintain a hobby for military service; or one who served as a soldier on a hobby with light armor. [Obs.] Davies.Hŏb'bling-ly, adv. p. 631With a limping or interrupted step.Hŏb'bly, a. p. 631Full of holes; rough; uneven; hubby; — said of a road.Hŏb'by, n. p. 631(Ornith.) A small, but strong-winged falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking. It migrates from England southward.Hŏb'by or Hŏb'by-hōrse, n. p. 631Hobby (Falco subbuteo). 1. A strong, active horse, of a middle size, said to have been originally from Ireland; a nag; a pacing-horse; a garran. Johnson. 2. A stick, or figure of a horse, on which…Hŏb'by-hôrs'ie-al, a. p. 631Pertaining to, or having, a hobby-horse; eccentric. Sterne.Hōb'by-hōrs'ie-al-ly, adv. p. 631Whimsically. Sterne.Hŏb'gŏb-lin, n. p. 631A fairy; a frightful apparition; an imp;— a name formerly given to the household spirit, Robin Goodfellow.Hŏb'bi-ler, n. p. 631A feudal tenant bound to serve as a light horseman or bowman; a hobbler. [Obs.] Brandé.Hō'bit, n. p. 631(Mil.) A small mortar, or short gun, for throwing bombs; a howitzer. [Obs.] Johnson.Hōb'nāil, n. p. 631A nail with a thick, strong head, such as is used in the shoes of horses, or sometimes of men. 2. A clownish person;—so called in contempt or ridicule. Milton.Hōb'nāiled, a. p. 631Set with hobnails. Dryden.Hōb'nōb, adv. p. 631Take or not take;— a familiar invitation to reciprocal drinking. Shak.Hŏb'nŏb, v. i. p. 631To drink familiarly.Hōb-or-nōb, adv. p. 631See HOBNOB.Hō'boy, n. p. 631A hautboy. See HAUTBOY.Hŏb'son's Choice p. 631A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing. ☞ It is said to have had its origin in the name of one Hobson, at Cambridge, England, who let horses, and obliged every customer to take…Hōck, n. p. 631See HOUGH. Johnson.Hōck, v. t. p. 631To disable by cutting the tendons of the ham; to hamstring; to hough.Hōck, n. p. 631A light-yellowish Rhenish wine, which is either sparkling or still. Simmonds.Hŏck'a-mōre, n. p. 631A Rhenish wine. [Obs.] See Hock. Hudibras.Hŏck'-dāy, n. p. 631A holiday formerly held in England the second Tuesday after Easter, to commemorate the expulsion of the Danes in the time of Ethelred.Hŏck'ey, n. p. 631See HOCK-DAY. 1. Harvest-home. [Obs.] 2. A game at ball played with a club curved at the bottom; hawkey. [Written also hookey.]Hŏck'hẽrb, n. p. 631A plant; the mallows.Hŏck'le, v. t. p. 631<br>1. To hamstring; to hough. Hanmer.<br>2. To mow, as stubble. Mason.Hŏcks, v. t. p. 631To hock or hough. [Obs.] Dampier.Hō'cus, v. t. p. 631To deceive or cheat; to adulterate; as, liquor is said to be hocused when laudanum has been put into it. Halliwell.Hō'cus, n. p. 631One who cheats or deceives. South.Hō'cus-pō'cus, n. p. 631A juggler; a juggler's trick; a cheat used by conjurers. Hudibras.Hō'cus-pō'cus, v. t. p. 631To cheat. L'Estrange.Hŏd, n. p. 631A kind of tray for carrying mortar and brick, used in bricklaying. It is fitted with a handle, and borne on the shoulder. 2. A utensil for holding coal; a coal-scuttle.Hōd'den-grāy, n. p. 631Cloth made of wool in its natural state, without being dyed. [Scot.]Hŏd'dy-dŏd, n. p. 631A hodmandod. [Obs.] Holland.Hŏd'dy-dŏd'dy, n. p. 631An awkward or foolish person. [Obs.] B. Jonson.Hŏd'dy-pĕck, n. p. 631A cuckold; a hoddy-doddy. [Obs.] Latimer.Hŏdge'-pŏdge, n. p. 631A mixed mass; a medley of ingredients; hotch-potch; hotch pot. [Colloq.] 2. A commixture of land. Johnson.Hōdge'-pud'ding, n. p. 631A pudding made up of a medley of ingredients. Shak.Hō'di-ēr'nal, a. p. 631Of this day; belonging to the present day. [Rare.]Hŏd'man, n. p. 631A man who carries a hod; a mason's tender.Hōd'man-dōd, n. p. 631A certain shell snail, the dod-man. Bacon.Hōd'o-grāph, n. p. 631(Math.) A curve described by the moving extremity of a line the other end of which is fixed, this line being constantly parallel to the direction of motion of, and having its length constantly…Hōe, n. p. 631An instrument for cutting up weeds and loosening the earth in fields and gardens, being a plate of iron, with a handle, which is set at an acute angle with it. 2. (Ichth.) A dog-fish or shark…Hōe, v. t. p. 631To cut, dig, scrape, or clean with a hoe; as, to hoe the earth in a garden; to hoe the beds; also, to clear from weeds, or to loosen the earth about, with a hoe; as, to hoe corn.Hōe, v. i. p. 631To use a hoe; to labor with a hoe.Hōe'-cake, n. p. 631A coarse cake, of Indian meal, baked before the fire, and sometimes on a hoe; a johnny-cake.Hō'ful, a. p. 631Careful; wary. [Obs.]Hō'ful-ly, adv. p. 631Carefully. [Obs.] Stapleton.Hŏg, n. p. 631(Zoöl.) A well-known domesticated animal, of the genus Sus, of gluttonous and filthy habits, kept for the fat and meat, called, respectively, lard and pork, which it furnishes; swine; porker; —…Hŏg, v. t. p. 631To cut short the hair of; as, to hog the mane of a horse. Smart. 2. [See supra, 4.] (Naut.) To scrape under water, as a ship’s bottom. Totten.Hŏg, v. t. p. 631To carry on the back. [Local.] Grose.Hŏg, v. i. p. 631To become bent upward in the middle; — said of a ship strained out of shape.Hŏg'-cōte, n. p. 631A shed or house for swine; a sty.