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Hobnob and Shakespeare
In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Sir Toby Belch warned Viola (who was disguised as a man) that Sir Andrew wanted to duel. "Hob, nob is his word," said Sir Toby, using "hob, nob" to mean something like "hit or miss." Sir Toby's term is probably an alteration of "hab nab," a phrase that meant "to have or not have, however it may turn out." After Shakespeare's day, hob and nob were used in the phrases "to drink hob or nob" and "to drink hobnob," which meant "to drink alternately to each other." Since "drinking hobnob" was generally done among friends, hobnob came to refer to congenial social interaction.
Synonyms
Examples of hobnob in a Sentence
Tess Riski, Miami Herald, 9 May 2024
Karlie Kloss and Dasha Zhukova were perched in a booth (discussing their media empires?); Lewis Hamilton, fresh from an F1 race in Miami, circulated the room; and Serena and Venus Williams hobnobbed with guests.
—Vogue, 7 May 2024
Crystal is hobnobbing with other Yankees when Joltin’ Joe strides over, clearly upset.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 6 May 2024
As a teenager, Ms. Dugdale went on a classic European Grand Tour and then was part of the 1958 debutante ceremony hosted by the queen, where the young women entering high society nibbled on chocolate cake and hobnobbed with royalty.
—Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Even if hobnobbing with celebs is old hat to Swift, watching her boyfriend win the Super Bowl in overtime was still a thrill.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 14 Feb. 2024
Government delegations have shuttled around the globe hobnobbing with chip makers.
—Jiyoung Sohn, WSJ, 29 Dec. 2023
The broad contours of his arc, from an ordinary schmo to a beloved TV star hobnobbing with celebrities and signing his own development deal, are as classic as Hollywood fairy tales get.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Dec. 2023
The tall, burly Mr. Gilmer frequently hobnobbed with the world’s elite wine collectors and growers.
—James B. Stewart, New York Times, 25 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hobnob.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hobnob
Cite this Entry
“Hobnob.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hobnob. Accessed 14 May. 2024.
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hobnob
verb
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