hobby horse
The Irish Hobby, an extinct breed of horseThe Irish Hobby, an extinct breed of horse.
» Geography is her hobby horse.
Geografie ist ihr Steckenpferd. — araneo
Myrano_ · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
5 sensesThe Irish Hobby, an extinct breed of horse.
A child's toy consisting of a (usually wooden or cloth) horse's head mounted on a stick.
Steckenpferd
конёкkonjók
(figuratively)A topic that elicits a prolonged and enthusiastic discussion from an individual.
Don't ask him about global warming: it's his favourite hobby horse, you'll never get away.
Steckenpferd
конёкkonjók
A puppetlike costume used in some traditional dances and festivals that gives its wearer the appearance of a man on horseback.
(historical)An early bicycle with no pedals or brakes.
Examples
1 sentencesGeography is her hobby horse.
deGeografie ist ihr Steckenpferd. — araneo
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English hobye hors (“a stock figure in Morris dances, created by means of an eFrom Middle English hobye hors (“a stock figure in Morris dances, created by means of an exaggeratedly equine costume”), equivalent to hobby (“small horse or pony”) + horse.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: hobby horsesSynonyms
2 synonymsWord family
2 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.