hob1

[hob] /hɒb/
noun
1.
a projection or shelf at the back or side of a fireplace, used for keeping food warm.
2.
a rounded peg or pin used as a target in quoits and similar games.
3.
a game in which such a peg is used.
4.
Machinery. a milling cutter for gear and sprocket teeth, splines, threads, etc., having helically arranged teeth and fed across the work as the work is rotated.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), hobbed, hobbing.
5.
Machinery. to cut with a hob.
Origin
1505-15; variant of obsolete hub hob (in a fireplace); perhaps identical with hub
Related forms
hobber, noun

hob2

[hob] /hɒb/
noun
1.
a hobgoblin or elf.
Idioms
2.
play hob with, to do mischief or harm to:
The child played hob with my radio, and now it won't work at all.
3.
raise hob, to cause a destructive commotion; behave disruptively:
They raised such hob with their antagonistic questions that the meeting broke up.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English, special use of Hob, for Robert or Robin
Related forms
hoblike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for hob

hob1

/hɒb/
noun
1.
(Brit) the flat top part of a cooking stove, or a separate flat surface, containing hotplates or burners
2.
a shelf beside an open fire, for keeping kettles, etc, hot
3.
a steel pattern used in forming a mould or die in cold metal
4.
a hard steel rotating cutting tool used in machines for cutting gears
verb hobs, hobbing, hobbed
5.
(transitive) to cut or form with a hob
Word Origin
C16: variant of obsolete hubbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to hub

hob2

/hɒb/
noun
1.
a hobgoblin or elf
2.
a male ferret
3.
(US, informal) raise hob, play hob, to cause mischief or disturbance
Derived Forms
hoblike, adjective
Word Origin
C14: variant of Rob, short for Robin or Robert
Word Origin and History for hob
n.

"side of fireplace," 1670s, alteration of hubbe (1510s), of unknown origin, perhaps somehow related to the first element in hobnail.

Hob

n.

"clown, prankster," short for hobgoblin (q.v.). Hence, to play (the) hob "make mischief" (by 1834).