hobby Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an auxiliary activity
    sideline; spare-time activity; by-line; avocation; pursuit.
  2. noun a child's plaything consisting of an imitation horse mounted on rockers; the child straddles it and pretends to ride
    rocking horse; hobbyhorse.
  3. noun small Old World falcon formerly trained and flown at small birds
    Falco subbuteo.

WordNet

Hob"by noun
Etymology
OE. hobi; cf. OF. hobe, hobé, F. hobereau a hobby, a species of falcon. OF. hober to move, stir. Cf. Hobby a horse.
Wordforms
plural Hobbies
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A small, strong-winged European falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking.
Hob"by, Hob"by*horse` noun (Also<
  • Hobby
  • Hobbyhorse
)
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913