Definitions

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  • noun Plural form of hobgoblin.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Analytic philosophers put a premium on coherence - this is one of its "hobgoblins" - but beyond the discipline a little inconsistency is tolerated.

    PEA Soup 2009

  • And owls shall dwell there, and satyrs [that is, the hobgoblins, or devils] shall dance there.

    Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 John Bunyan 1658

  • My first prejudice (for I do not mention the prejudices of boys, and women, such as hobgoblins, ghosts, dreams, spilling salt, etc.) was my classical enthusiasm, which I received from the books I read, and the masters who explained them to me.

    Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman 2005

  • My first prejudice (for I do not mention the prejudices of boys and women, such as hobgoblins, ghosts, dreams, spilling salt, &c.) was my classical enthusiasm, which I received from the books I read, and the masters who explained them to me.

    Selected English Letters Various 1913

  • My first prejudice (for I do not mention the prejudices of boys, and women, such as hobgoblins, ghosts, dreams, spilling salt, etc.) was my classical enthusiasm, which I received from the books I read, and the masters who explained them to me.

    Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman, 1749 Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733

  • My first prejudice (for I do not mention the prejudices of boys, and women, such as hobgoblins, ghosts, dreams, spilling salt, etc.) was my classical enthusiasm, which I received from the books I read, and the masters who explained them to me.

    Complete Project Gutenberg Earl of Chesterfield Works Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733

  • So apparently you have never heard the 'hobgoblins' quote before vidyohs?

    Cafe Hayek 2009

  • This has led to many interrogations of hobgoblins and orcs, which are fun, but very intense in terms of role-playing and can be divisive for the group (not the players, but definitely the characters).

    Genre Thought: Friendly Combat « Geek Related 2009

  • “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

    Five Crucial Conservation Goals for Sportsmen 2009

  • “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

    Five Crucial Conservation Goals for Sportsmen 2009

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