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Definition 2024


play_hob_with

play hob with

English

Verb

play hob with

  1. (idiomatic, Britain, rustic US) mess with, cause trouble for
    • 1838 June 2, N.Y. Mirror, 387/1
      They say it's playing hob with the fellers in these here parts.
    • 1940, D.A. Lord, Our Lady in the Modern World, iii. 141
      The revolutionists who are playing hob with our generation are really masters of the obsolete.
    2010, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality §62
    It'll play hob with my sleep schedule but I suppose it can't be helped. Please let the house elves know that if I ask for an early breakfast at, say, three A.M. tomorrow morning, I'm to receive it.

Synonyms

  • (US) mess with
  • (obsolete) play the devil (with)

References

  • Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "Hob, n.1". Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1898.