play hob with

present singular third person plays hob with · participle present playing hob with · participle past played hob with · past played hob with

1. UKdatedidiomaticrustic USmess with, cause trouble for

   They say it's playing hob with the fellers in these here parts.

   1838 June 2, Mirror, N.Y, 387/1

   2 more examples

   The revolutionists who are playing hob with our generation are really masters of the obsolete.

   1940, D.A. Lord, Our Lady in the Modern World, iii. 141

   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.

   2010, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, §62

   Synonyms: mess with, play the devil