Free translatorFree translator
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Hobson's choice   Listen
noun
Hobson's choice  n.  A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing. Note: It is said to have had its origin in the name of one Hobson, at Cambridge, England, who let horses, and required every customer to take in his turn the horse which stood next the stable door.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Hobson's choice" Quotes from Famous Books



... night. Thursdays we have a jubal fraae Wi' bread and cheese for all the day. I'll tell you raaelly, without consate, For a hungry pig 'tis a charmin' bait. At six you're locked into your cell, There until the mornin' dwell; There's a bed o' straw all to lay on, There's Hobson's choice, there's that or none." ...
— The Chequers - Being the Natural History of a Public-House, Set Forth in - a Loafer's Diary • James Runciman

... attractive hexagonal structure with niched recesses and ornamental capstones. This is Hobson's Conduit, erected in 1614 by Thomas Hobson. This benefactor of Cambridge was a carrier between London and the university, and is said to have been the originator of "Hobson's Choice." The youngest foundation at Cambridge is Downing College, erected in 1807, an unobtrusive structure, and near by is Emmanuel College, built on the site of a Dominican convent and designed by Wren. It was founded by Sir Walter Mildmay, the Puritan, in 1584, who on going to court ...
— England, Picturesque and Descriptive - A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel • Joel Cook

... drew near. "You've heard of Hobson's choice?" he inquired in a low voice. "Perhaps this is Hobson, or Sam Hill, or Punch, or ...
— The Poor Little Rich Girl • Eleanor Gates

... they should prove themselves fully able to keep a whole host of Apaches at bay, how was the siege to end? If the Indians should content themselves with merely waiting until hunger and thirst could do their work, what more? These questions naturally occurred to the men themselves, but it came back to Hobson's choice after all. And so they dashed ahead, gradually increasing their speed, while the Apaches, with the regularity of machine work, as gradually drew in ...
— Through Apache Lands • R. H. Jayne



Words linked to "Hobson's choice" :   alternative



Copyright © 2024 Free Translator.org