hobby

noun

1. An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.

   “I like to collect stamps from different countries as a hobby.”

   “take up a hobby”

   “give up your hobby”

2. An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby.

   “I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place in the wood I’d never seen before. And there was an old chalk-pit. And I heard a kind of a sort of humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went right quiet to the pit, and I looked down.”

3. Synonym of hobby horse (“a favorite topic”).

   “"Well, I think East is right," said Arthur; "I can't see but what it's right to do the best you can, though it mayn't be the best absolutely. Every man isn't born to be a martyr." "Of course, of course," said East; "but he's on one of his pet hobbies. — How often have I told you, Tom, that you must drive a nail where it'll go."”

4. Any of four species of small falcons in the genus Falco, especially Falco subbuteo.

   “He hawked – from nearby Esher, Richard Fox sent a servant with a hobby, which Henry received enthusiastically – and hunted, sending a present of freshly slaughtered deer to Princess Mary.”

name

1. An English surname transferred from the given name.