1. To fetter by tying the legs; to hopple; to clog. " They hobbled their horses." Dickens
2. To perplex; to embarrass.
Hobble
(Hob"ble), n.
1. An unequal gait; a limp; a halt; as, he has a hobble in his gait. Swift.
2. Same as Hopple.
3. Difficulty; perplexity; embarrassment. Waterton.
Hobblebush
(Hob"ble*bush`) n. (Bot.) A low bush (Viburnum lantanoides) having long, straggling branches
and handsome flowers. It is found in the Northern United States. Called also shinhopple.
Hobbledehoy
(Hob"ble*de*hoy` Hob"ble*te*hoy`) n. [Written also hobbetyhoy, hobbarddehoy, hobbedehoy,
hobdehoy.] [ Cf. Prob. E. hobbledygee with a limping movement; also F. hobereau, a country squire,
E. hobby, and OF. hoi to-day; perh. the orig. sense was, an upstart of to-day.] A youth between boy
and man; an awkward, gawky young fellow . [Colloq.]
All the men, boys, and hobbledehoys attached to the farm.
Dickens. . Hobbler
(Hob"bler) n. One who hobbles.
Hobbler
(Hob"bler), n. [OE. also hobeler, OF. hobelier, LL. hobellarius. See Hobby a horse.] (Eng.
Hist.) One who by his tenure was to maintain a horse for military service; a kind of light horseman in the
Middle Ages who was mounted on a hobby. Hallam. Sir J. Davies.
Hobblingly
(Hob"bling*ly) adv. With a limping step.
Hobbly
(Hob"bly) a. Rough; uneven; causing one to hobble; as a hobbly road.
Hobby
(Hob"by) n.; pl. Hobbies [OE. hobi; cf. OF. hobe, hobé, F. hobereau a hobby, a species of
falcon. OF. hober to move, stir. Cf. Hobby a horse.] (Zoöl.) A small, strong-winged European falcon
formerly trained for hawking.
Hobby
(Hob"by Hob"by*horse`) n. [OE. hobin a nag, OF. hobin hobby; cf. hober to stir, move; prob. of
German or Scand. origin; cf. Dan. hoppe a mare, dial. Sw. hoppa; perh. akin to E. hop to jump.]
1. A strong, active horse, of a middle size, said to have been originally from Ireland; an ambling nag.
Johnson.
2. A stick, often with the head or figure of a horse, on which boys make believe to ride. [ Usually under
the form hobbyhorse.]
3. A subject or plan upon which one is constantly setting off; a favorite and ever-recurring theme of discourse,
thought, or effort; that which occupies one's attention unduly, or to the weariness of others; a ruling passion.
[Usually under the form hobby.]
Not one of them has any hobbyhorse, to use the phrase of Sterne.
Macaulay. Hobbyhorsical
(Hob`by*hors"ic*al) n. Pertaining to, or having, a hobby or whim; eccentric; whimsical.[Colloq.]
Sterne.
Hobgoblin
(Hob"gob`lin) n. [See 2d Hob, and Goblin.] A frightful goblin; an imp; a bugaboo; also, a
name formerly given to the household spirit, Robin Goodfellow. Macaulay.
