Etymology 1
Related to hub, but the ultimate origin of both words is obscure.
Noun
hob (plural hobs)
- A kind of cutting tool, used to cut the teeth of a gear.
- (historical) The flat projection or iron shelf at the side of a fire grate, where things are put to be kept warm.
- 1898, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Book the Second, Chapter V (The Jackal):
- They went into a dingy room lined with books and littered with papers, where there was a blazing fire. A kettle steamed upon the hob, and in the midst of the wreck of papers a table shone, with plenty of wine upon it, and brandy, and rum, and sugar, and lemons.
- (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The top cooking surface on a cooker; a cooktop. It typically comprises several cooking elements (often four), also known as 'rings'.
- A rounded peg used as a target in several games, especially in quoits.
- A male ferret.
- The hub of a wheel.
- August 31 1776, George Washington, letter to the President of Congress
- the wheels of the carriages sinking up to the hobs rendered it impossible for our whole force to drag them.
Translations
A rounded peg used as a target in several games, especially in quoits
Verb
hob (third-person singular simple present hobs, present participle hobbing, simple past and past participle hobbed)
- (transitive) To create (a gear) by cutting with a hob.
- (intransitive) To engage in the process of cutting gears with a hob.
Etymology 2
From Middle English Hob (a diminutive of Robin, an Old French [Term?] diminutive of Robert), through its connection with Robin Goodfellow and (later) the devil. Compare hobgoblin; see robin.
Noun
hob (plural hobs)
- (obsolete) A fairy; a sprite; an elf; a bogey.
1610–1616, John Fletcher, “Monsieur Thomas. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene vi:From elves, hobs, and fairies, […] Defend us, good Heaven!
- (obsolete) A countryman; a rustic or yokel.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:country bumpkin
1682, Langley Curtis, New News from Bedlam:More fitter for the Country Hobs.
Synonyms
- (supernatural creature): See goblin (hostile)