| Part of Speech | Definition | |
| Noun | 1. The choice of taking what is offered or nothing at all.[Wordnet]. | |
| Expression | 1. A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing.[Websters]. | |
Sources: WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) | Top | |
Common Expressions: Hobson's choice
| Expressions | Definition | ||
| Hobson's choice | 1: A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing. Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. | ||
| 2: The choice of taking what is offered or nothing at all. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | |||
| Hobson's choice | In colloquial English, a Hobson's Choice is an apparently free choice that is really no choice at all. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Specialty Expressions: Hobson's choice
| Expressions | Domain | Definition | |
| Hobson's choice | Literature | 1: "Why is the greatest of free communities reduced to Hobson's choice?" - The Times. 2: Milton wrote two quibbling epitaphs upon this eccentric character. 3: This or none. Tobias Hobson was a carrier and innkeeper at Cambridge, who erected the handsome conduit there, and settled "seven lays" of pasture ground towards its maintenance. "He kept a stable of forty good cattle, always ready and fit for travelling; but when a man came for a horse he was led into the stable, where there was great choice, but was obliged to take the horse which stood nearest to the stable-door; so that every customer was alike well served, according to his chance, and every horse ridden with the same justice." (Spectator, No. 509.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. | |
| Hobson's choice | Slang in 1811 | HOBSON'S CHOICE. That or none; from old Hobson, a famous carrier of Cambridge, who used to let horses to the students; but never permitted them to choose, always allotting each man the horse he thought most proper for his manner of riding and treatment. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Topics by Level of Interest: Hobson's choice | ||||
| Topics sorted by level of Interest | Level (1=low, 600=high) | Topics sorted Alphabetically | Level (1=low, 600=high) | |
| Hobson's choice | 22 | Hobson's choice | 22 | |
| Hobson's Choice (1954 film) | 14 | Hobson's Choice (1954 film) | 14 | |
| Hobson's choice (alternative meanings) | 3 | Hobson's choice (alternative meanings) | 3 | |
Source: the editor, created by/for EVE to gauge likely levels of human interest in linguistically triggered topics (compiled across various sources, such as Wikipedia and specialty expression glosses). | ||||
