What does hob mean?
A hob is a flat cooking surface on a cooker, stove, or similar appliance, usually powered by gas or electricity. Its name is particularly associated with British English, where it commonly refers to the whole cooking unit as well as to the individual heated surface; 'stove' is more usual in North American English. In modern homes, a hob may have several burners or zones, and the term is also used for the raised cooking area of some older cookers. Historically, 'hob' could refer to a fireplace or to the central portion of a wheel, the latter sense surviving mainly in specialized and old-fashioned usage. The word is useful because it names a distinct part of a cooker rather than the appliance as a whole, and it carries a distinctly traditional British domestic association. The related modern sense of cooking directly on a hob is especially familiar in instructions and recipes.
A flat heated surface on a cooker or stove, especially one of several burners used for cooking.
"The milk began to boil over on the hob."
Chiefly British in contemporary usage; in American English, 'burner' is more common.
Historically, a fireplace or the side of a fireplace where food could be heated.
"A pot was hung over the embers in the old hearth."
Archaic and regional; this sense is now mostly encountered in historical or literary contexts.
A central projecting part, especially the central part of a wheel.
"The wheel turned around its fixed hob."
Archaic or specialized.
Used for separate heated cooking surfaces, or in older contexts for separate fireplaces or wheel hubs.
"The cooker has four hobs of different sizes."
On a traditional British cooker, the hob is the part that does the busiest work: it is where pans sit directly over the heat.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hob come from?
The word has Middle English roots and has been used for different parts associated with fire or rotation. Its modern cooking sense developed through older terminology for a fireplace or fire-heated surface, while the wheel-center sense belongs to an older mechanical vocabulary. The related word 'hub' preserves a comparable central-part idea, although the precise historical relationship between the two forms is not always straightforward.
How hob is actually used
The cooking-surface sense is especially common in British English. In North American English, 'burner' and 'stove' are more usual. The fireplace and wheel-center senses are now archaic or specialized.
Easily confused with hob
A hob is a cooking surface, whereas a hub is the central part of a wheel or rotating mechanism.