Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An apparently free choice that offers no real alternative.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- See choice.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the choice of taking what is offered or nothing at all
Etymologies
- After Thomas Hobson (1544-1631) of Cambridge, England, who rented horses and gave his customers the choice of the horse nearest the stable door or no horse at all. (Wiktionary)
- After Thomas Hobson (1544?-1630), English keeper of a livery stable, from his requirement that customers take either the horse nearest the stable door or none. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
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Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Hobson's choice’.
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Hobs
hob, hobby, hobbyhorse, hobnob, hobanob, hob and nob, Hob Collingwood, hobble, Calvin and Hobbes, hobbledygee, Hobby-lanthorn, hobbit and 41 more...
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phraseologue ⊃ possessives
originally made due to compulsion to not leave the comments on this list hanging. Also the typo.
bum's rush, king's ransom, mind's eye, god's country, christ's sake, winner's circle, Lorenzo's oil, St. Elmo's Fire, dog's breakfast, rat's ass, tinker's damn, cat's meow and 68 more...
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Idioms and Phrases
hack someone off, scrape the bottom..., haul over the coals, rake over the coals, have a thin time, down one's alley, up one's alley, shoot the bull, bite the bullet, up the creek, cudgel one' brains, plain as a pikestaff and 156 more...
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