hobnob
pronunciation
How to pronounce hobnob in British English:
UK [ˈhɒbnɒb]
How to pronounce hobnob in American English:
US [ˈhɑbnɑb]
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- Verb:
- rub elbows with
Word Origin
- hobnob
- hobnob: [18] In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Sir Toby Belch says ‘Hob, nob, is his word: give’t or take’t’; from which it has been deduced that the hob of hobnob represents have and that the nob represents the now obsolete nave ‘not have’ (formed in the Old English period by adding the negative particle ne to have). In Middle English these would have been habbe and nabbe.When hobnob first appears as a verb, in the mid 18th century, it means ‘drink together’ – perhaps from the notion of buying alternate rounds of drinks, or drinking toasts to each other in turn. The modern sense ‘associate familiarly, socialize’ is not recorded before the early 19th century.=> have
- hobnob (v.)
- 1763, "to drink to each other," from hob and nob (1756) "to toast each other by turns, to buy alternate rounds of drinks," from c. 1550 hab nab "to have or have not, hit or miss," probably ultimately from Old English habban, nabban "have, not have," with the negative particle ne- attached, as was customary. Modern sense of "socialize" is 1866. Related: Hobnobbed; hobnobbing.
Example
- 1. There are few better ways to boost it than to hobnob with mr obama .
- 2. Germans like to watch the chancellor hobnob with the world 's most powerful men .
- 3. Finally , on june 19th , he is to visit britain for several days to hobnob with the prime minister , gordon brown , plus various other politicians and would-be investors .
- 4. Sensitive to the charge that they would hobnob with hamas , the europeans have suggested inserting palestinian forces loyal to president mahmoud abbas as intermediaries .