Definition of HOBNOB

hobnob

Plural: hobnobs

Verb

Verb Forms: hobnobbed, hobnobbing, hobnobs

  • To associate or socialize in a friendly, informal manner.
  • rub elbows with
    • "He hobnobs with the best of society"
  • To drink together.
  • To associate with in a friendly manner, often with those of a higher class or status; to fraternize.
  • To have or have not; to give or take.
  • To toast one another by touching glasses.

Noun

  • A toast made while touching glasses together.
  • A drinking together.
  • An informal chat.

Adj

  • On friendly terms; in friendly association.

Adv

  • At random; at a venture; hit and miss.

Examples

  • At the Scrabble tournament, players would HOBNOB over strategies and past victories.
  • His favorite spot in the club was the bar, where he could hobnob with the big-wigs.
  • The ambitious young student hobnobbed with the faculty at the prestigious college he hoped to attend.
  • The three friends had a hobnob outside the bar.

Origin / Etymology

From hob and nob, hob or nob (“a phrase spoken when making a toast, possibly meaning ‘give and take’; to take turns toasting or buying rounds of drinks”) (archaic), from dialectal hab nab (“to have or have not, in the sense of an invitation to have a drink”), from Old English habban (“to have, possess”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to grab, seize”)) + nabban (“to not have”) (from ne (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *né (“not”)) + habban).

Synonyms

fraternize, rub elbows, rub shoulders

Scrabble Score: 13

hobnob: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
hobnob: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
hobnob: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

hobnob: valid Words With Friends Word