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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








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"Hobson's choice" Quotes from Famous Books



... Silver King, Southport Red, Southport White F. E. Brown, Binghamton. Bronze medal Onions.—Red Wethersfield, Australian Brown, Yellow Danvers, Prize Takers, Southport White Arthur L. Billings, Prattsburg. Silver medal Potatoes.—Hobson's Choice, Uncle Sam, White Gilial, New York Wonder, White Banner, Billings' Favorite, Billings' White Beauty, American Beauty, Billings' Surprise, Early Gem, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sampson's Best, Vick's Early Perfection, ...
— New York at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis 1904 - Report of the New York State Commission • DeLancey M. Ellis

... It was well that "Hobson's choice" as to the way his tub should sink failed. On July 3d, just after Sampson steamed away to see Shafter, the Maria Teresa was seen poking her nose from the Santiago harbor, followed by the Almirante Oquendo, the Vizcaya, ...
— History of the United States, Volume 5 • E. Benjamin Andrews

... who let out horses on hire, the choice always limited to the one next the door, the one that had been longest in, hence Hobson's Choice. ...
— The Nuttall Encyclopaedia - Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge • Edited by Rev. James Wood



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