hobby-horsen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun] > defined by size > small
hobbyc1400
tit1548
Galloway1598
hobby-horse1598
bidet1631
pony1659
runt1725
criollo1894
cuddyc1930
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun] > defined by size > small > pony
nag1336
hobbyc1400
bilder1570
hobby-horse1598
Sheltie1612
pony1659
naggya1700
shalt1813
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [noun] > type(s) of gait > amble > that ambles
hobbyc1400
amblerc1405
hobby-horse1598
pad-horse1626
pad-nag1654
pad mare1701
pad1832
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Vbino, a hobbie horse, such as Ireland breedeth.
1609 T. Dekker Guls Horne-bk. sig. E2 At the doores with their masters hobby-horses, to ride to the new play.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iii. iv. 37 in Wks. II A Carroch..with foure pyed hobbyhorses.
2. † b. Prov. the hobby-horse is forgot: a phrase apparently taken from some old ballad. Obsolete.† c. A hobby-horse dance. Obsolete.
a. In the morris-dance, and on the stage (in burlesques, pantomimes, etc.), a figure of a horse, made of wickerwork, or other light material, furnished with a deep housing, and fastened about the waist of one of the performers, who executed various antics in imitation of the movements of a skittish or spirited horse; also, the name of this performer in a morris-dance. Hence, to play (the) hobby-horse: also transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > morris-dance > [noun] > figure of horse
hobby-horse1557
hobby1778
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > morris-dance > [verb (intransitive)] > play hobby-horse
to play (the) hobby-horse1557
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > pantomime > [noun] > role or character
hobby-horse1557
harlequin1590
play-mare1598
Columbinea1723
clown1727
hobby1778
pantaloon1781
harlequiness1785
Pierrot?1789
pierrette1847
harlequina1867
dobby1879
principal boy1892
principal girl1893
dame1902
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > pantomime > act in pantomime [verb (intransitive)] > play role or character
to play (the) hobby-horse1557
hobby-horse1636
harlequinade1823
1557 Churchwardens' Accts. St. Mary's in C. Coates Hist. Reading (1802) 130 Item, payed to the Mynstrels and the Hobbyhorse on May Day 3s.
1569 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 132 Gevyn to tow mynstreles, and to them that did play with ye hoby horse, xijd.
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Mii Then haue they their Hobby-horses, dragons & other Antiques.
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor ii. i. sig. Ev Sbloud you shall see him turne morrisedancer, he ha's got him bels, a good sute, and a Hobbie-horse . View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Colasterion 17 The word Politician is not us'd to his maw, and therupon hee plaies the most notorious hobbihors, jesting and frisking in the luxury of his non-sense.
1684 J. Dryden Epil. Univ. Oxf. in Misc. Poems 266 Your Delight Was there to see two Hobby-horses Fight.
1820 W. Scott Abbot I. xiv. 294 He performed the celebrated part of the hobbie-horse.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. xiv. 275 Captain Coxe..executed..a gambade, the like whereof had never been practised by two-legged hobby-horse.
ΚΠ
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iii. i. 28 Brag. But o but o. Boy. The Hobbie-horse is forgot. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Kemp Nine Daies Wonder sig. B2v With hey and ho, through thicke and thin, the hobby horse quite forgotten.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 128 Els hee must follow the olde Epitithe, With hoh, with ho, the hobi-horse is forgot.
1604 B. Jonson Particular Entertainm. at Althrope 286 in His Pt. Royall Entertainem. But see the Hobby-horse is forgot. Foole it must bee your lot, To supplie his want with faces And some other Buffon graces.
1609 Old Meg of Hereford-shire sig. B4 But looke you who here comes, Iohn Hunt the Hobby-horse, wanting but three of an hundred, twere time for him to forget himselfe, and sing but O, nothing but O, the Hobbie-horse is forgotten.
a1625 J. Fletcher Women Pleas'd iv. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Eeeeee3v/2 Shall the Hobby-horse be forgot then?
1631 T. Drue Life Dutches of Suffolke ii. sig. C4v Clu. Answere me hobbihorse, Which way crost he..? Ien. Who doe you speake to sir, We haue forgot the hobbihorse.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > morris-dance > [noun]
Morisk dance1448
morris dance1458
Morisk1467
morris1503
Moresque1508
Moriscoc1560
Moresco1567
morris dancing1588
hobby-horse1670
hobby-horse dance1686
Moor dance1801
Moresca1869
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 96 Women like those that danced anciently the Hobby-horse in country Mummings.
1779 in Brand's Pop. Antiq. Great Brit. (1870) I. 285 We are come over the Mire and Moss; We dance an Hobby Horse; A Dragon you shall see, And a wild Worm for to flee.
a. A person who plays ridiculous antics; a frivolous or foolish fellow, jester, buffoon.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [noun] > jest or pleasantry > one who jests or jokes > buffoon
sporter1531
Owlglassc1560
scogginist1593
scurr1596
hobby-horse1600
zany1606
buffoona1610
jack pudding?c1635
Owl-spieglea1637
droll1645
buffian1655
drollist1668
droller1676
merry-andrew1694
grotesque1864
harlequin1883
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. ii. 66 I haue studied eight or nine wise wordes to speake to you, which these hobby-horses must not heare. View more context for this quotation
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. iii, in Wks. I. 572 What a neighing hobby-horse is this! View more context for this quotation
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Little French Lawyer v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. K4/1 Make 'em tame fooles, & hobby-horses.
b. A lustful person; a loose woman, prostitute.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > person
harlotc1330
swiverc1440
wantonc1500
hobby-horse1598
incontinent1598
gamester1609
impure1784
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iii. i. 29 Calst thou my loue Hobbi-horse ? View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iv. i. 151 There, giue it the hobby horse.
4.
a. A stick with a horse's head which children bestride as a toy horse.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > hobby-horse, etc.
cock-horse1541
hobby-horse1589
hobby1689
cop-horse1877
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. 234 King Agesilaus hauing a great sort of little children..tooke a little hobby horse of wood and bestrid it to keepe them in play.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre i. v. 10 in Wks. II Did you all thinke..that I had chang'd it i' the Fayre, for hobby-horses?
1632 R. Sherwood Dict. in R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues (new ed.) A (childs) hobbie-horse, baston, ou cheval de bois d'un enfant.
1710 Brit. Apollo 15–18 Dec. A Parcel of Hobby-Horses, Rattles and Penny-Fiddles.
1758 S. Johnson Idler 8 July 105 She saw Lady Fondle's eldest Son ride over a carpet with his hobby-horse all mire.
1827 W. Hone Table Bk. I. 685 A street seller of hobby-horses—toys for the children of a hundred years ago.
b. A wooden horse fixed on a ‘merry-go-round’ at a fair.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > place of amusement or entertainment > fairground or amusement park > [noun] > fairground ride > merry-go-round > horse or car
hobby-horse1741
flying boat1784
dobby1879
galloper1945
1741 T. Gray Let. 21 Apr. in Corr. (1971) I. 182 A Fair here is not a place where one eats ginger-bread or rides upon hobby-horses.
1842 S. C. Hall & A. M. Hall Ireland II. 340 The merry-go-rounds and hobby-horses ‘crammed’.
1894 T. Hardy Life's Little Ironies 91 The gyrating personages and hobby-horses.
Thesaurus »
c. A rocking-horse for the nursery.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle propelled by feet > [noun] > by feet pushing on ground
draisine1818
velocipede1818
accelerator1819
dandy-horse1819
hobby1819
hobby-horse1819
1819 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. A machine denominated the Pedestrian Hobby-horse, invented by a Baron von Drais..has been introduced into this country by a tradesman in Long Acre.
1819 The Dandy & the Hobbyhorse 10 For this good turn The sweep would ride The hobby horse And Dandy's pride.
1880 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 483 An old farmer..narrated how he had seen the low ‘hobby-horses’ of fifty-nine years ago driven on English roads by thrust of the toes on the ground.
1887 Viscount Bury & G. L. Hillier Cycling (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 59 The bicycle of the present day is a descendant in the right line of the ‘dandy’ or ‘hobby horse’ of 1819.
1892 Strand Mag. 4 30 (Evolution of Cycle) Mr. Dennis Johnson..a coachmaker at 75 Long-acre took out a patent for this dandy or hobby-horse in 1818.
6. A favourite pursuit or pastime; = hobby n.1 5. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > hobby > [noun]
parergon1607
curiosity1646
hobby-horse1676
hobby1816
cheval de bataille1818
fad1867
first love1971
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > extreme opinion, dogmatism > fanaticism > [noun] > object of
hobby-horse1676
hobby1816
1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine i. 201 Almost every person hath some hobby horse or other wherein he prides himself.
1768 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1988) I. 15 I never pretend to be..above having and indulging a Hobby Horse.
a1791 J. Wesley Serm. lxxxiii. ii. 2, in Wks. (1811) IX. 434 Every one has (to use the cant term of the day..) his hobby-horse! Something that pleases the great boy for a few hours.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 43 Metaphysics and psychology have long been my hobby-horse.
1867 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) III. 134 I shall not make so much of my hobby-horse as I thought I could.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations.
hobby-horse dance n. (see sense 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > morris-dance > [noun]
Morisk dance1448
morris dance1458
Morisk1467
morris1503
Moresque1508
Moriscoc1560
Moresco1567
morris dancing1588
hobby-horse1670
hobby-horse dance1686
Moor dance1801
Moresca1869
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. x. 434 They had..a sort of sport..call'd the Hobby-horse dance, from a person that carryed the image of a horse between his leggs, made of thin boards.
hobby-horse man n. (also ˈhobbyhorseman) (a) a man who sells hobby-horses; (b) a man who rode a ‘hobby-horse’ or dandy-horse (see 5); (c) a man who ‘rides a hobby’ (see 6).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > cycling > [noun] > cyclist > on hobby-horse
hobby-horse man1631
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of toys or trinkets
hobby-horse man1631
baby-seller1634
toy man1682
toy-woman1688
toy man1860
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > extreme opinion, dogmatism > fanaticism > [noun] > person > devoted to hobby
hobbyist1871
hobby-horse man1894
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iv. ii. 53 in Wks. II I cannot finde my ginger-bread-Wife, nor my Hobby-horse-man in all the Fayre, now.
1849 Fraser's Mag. 40 417 Mr. Ellis really abuses these privileges of the hobbyhorseman.
1894 Tablet 27 Oct. 663 Taken up by small sectarians and hobbyhorsemen.
Derivatives
ˈhobby-horse v. (intransitive) (a) to play the hobby-horse; (b) to move like a hobby-horse.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > pantomime > act in pantomime [verb (intransitive)] > play role or character
to play (the) hobby-horse1557
hobby-horse1636
harlequinade1823
society > leisure > entertainment > [verb (intransitive)]
playeOE
glewc900
gameOE
lakec1300
solace1340
bourdc1440
dallyc1440
sporta1450
to make sportc1475
disport1480
to have a good (bad, etc.) time (of it, formerly on it)1509
toy?1521
pastime1523
recreate1589
jest1597
feast1609
deliciate1633
divert1670
carpe diem1817
hobby-horse1819
popjoy1853
that'll be the day1916
to play around1929
loon1969
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (intransitive)] > hobby-horse
hobby-horse1958
1636 W. Sampson Vow Breaker I iij Shall the Major put me besides the hobby-horse? let him hobby-horse at home.
1819 J. Keats Let. (1935) 315 He is not only reconcil'd to it but hobbyhorses upon it.
1830 J. Savage Hist. Carhampton 583 A singular custom, called ‘Hobby-horsing’ prevails here [i.e. at Minehead] on every first day of May. A number of young men..having..made some grotesque figures..rudely resembling men, and horses with long tails..perambulate the town.. performing a variety of antics.
1958 M. Pugh Wilderness of Monkeys ii. 22 A sheep started at his cursing and went hobby-horsing down the hill.
1965 Sunday Tel. 19 Sept. 24/7 She started to hobby-horse and at the third bounce in the height of the gust of about 30 knots in went her bows.
1967 Daily Tel. 30 Mar. 18/6 A continual hobby-horsing which stopped it dead about every third wave it hit.
hobby-ˈhorsical adj. humorous belonging or devoted to a ‘hobby-horse’ or hobby, crotchety, whimsical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > extreme opinion, dogmatism > fanaticism > [adjective]
fanatical?1550
zealotical1630
zealot1641
zealotic1657
fanatic1659
synagoguish1690
unsaving1714
swivel-eyed1758
hobby-horsical1761
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > capricious or whimsical
startfulmood?a1300
wildc1350
volage?a1366
gerfulc1374
geryc1386
wild-headeda1400
skittishc1412
gerish1430
shittle1440
shittle-witted1448
runningc1449
volageous1487
glaikit1488
fantasious1490
giggish1523
tickle or light of the sear?1530
fantastical1531
wayward1531
wantona1538
peevish1539
light-headed1549
humoral1573
unstaid1579
shittle-headed1580
toy-headed1581
fangled1587
humorous1589
choiceful1591
toyish1598
tricksy1598
skip-brain1603
capricious1605
humoursome1607
planetary1607
vertiginous1609
whimsieda1625
ingiddied1628
whimsy1637
toysome1638
cocklec1640
mercurial1647
garish1650
maggoty1650
kicksey-winseya1652
freakish1653
humourish1653
planetic1653
whimsical1653
shittle-braineda1655
freaking1663
maggoty-headed1667
maggot-pated1681
hoity-toity1690
maggotish1693
maggot-headeda1695
whimsy-headed1699
fantasque1701
crotchetly1702
quixotic1718
volatile1719
holloweda1734
conundrumical1743
flighty1768
fly-away1775
dizzy1780
whimmy1785
shy1787
whimming1787
quirky1789
notional1791
tricksome1815
vagarish1819
freakful1820
faddy1824
moodish1827
mawky1837
erratic1841
rockety1843
quirkish1848
maggoty-pated1850
crotchetya1854
freaksome1854
faddish1855
vagrom1882
fantasied1883
vagarisome1883
on-and-offish1888
tricksical1889
freaky1891
hobby-horsical1893
quirksome1896
temperamental1907
up and down1960
untogether1969
fanciful-
fantastic-
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. xxii. 118 The generous (tho' hobby-horsical) gallantry of my uncle.
1893 Blackie in Westm. Gaz. 15 Mar. 9/1 We quarrel a bit—he is so hobby~horsical, you can't avoid it.
hobby-ˈhorsically adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > extreme opinion, dogmatism > fanaticism > [adverb]
fanatically1672
hobby-horsically1760
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy II. v. 34 What he gained Hobby-Horsically, as a body-servant.
1771 G. Burns in Burns' Wks. (1845) 184 (note) Having..become most hobby-horsically attached to the study of medicine.
hobby-ˈhorsiness n. devotion to a ‘hobby’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > extreme opinion, dogmatism > fanaticism > [noun] > object of > devotion to
hobby-horsiness1881
1881 Nature 23 June 161/2 Practical, and altogether free from hobby-horsiness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1557