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choice

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.11 sec.
by choice
due to conscious choice; on purpose. I do this kind of thing by choice. No one makes me do it. I didn't go to this college by choice. It was the closest one to home.

Hobson's choice

the choice between taking what is offered and getting nothing at all. (From the name of a stable owner in the seventeenth century who always hired out the horse nearest the door.) We didn't really want that particular hotel, but it was a case of Hobson's choice. We booked very late and there was nothing else left. If you want a yellow car, it's Hobson's choice. The garage has only one.

be spoilt for choice  (mainly British) also be spoiled for choice (mainly American)
to have so many good possible choices that it is difficult to make a decision With 51 flavours of ice-cream to choose from you are spoiled for choice.

Hobson's choice

a situation in which it seems that you can choose between different things or actions, but there is really only one thing that you can take or do
Usage notes: Thomas Hobson was a man who kept horses and did not give people a choice about which horse they could have.
It's Hobson's choice, because if I don't agree to do what they want, I'll lose my job.


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