HB

See also: Appendix:Variations of "hb"

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Proper noun

HB

1. Initialism of Hansestadt Bremen, the German city of Bremen; used on licence plates and informally in other contexts.

   Let's meet in HB tomorrow.

Related terms

• HH (Hansestadt Hamburg)

Adjective

HB (not comparable)

1. Initialism of hard black (describing a pencil that makes lighter marks than a grade B, but darker marks than a grade H pencil).
   • 2008, Preeta Samarasan, Evening is the Whole Day, Fourth Estate, page 15:

     Suresh [...] takes his HB pencil and ruler out of their metal tin.

Noun

HB (plural HBs)

1. (astronomy) Initialism of horizontal branch.
2. (slang, seduction community) Initialism of hot babe, someone pickup artists try to seduce. (Usually followed by a number in the 1-10 scale of physical beauty, e.g. HB10.)
3. (medicine, obstetrics) Initialism of home birth.
4. (law, politics, often followed by a number) Initialism of house bill (“a bill proposed in or passed by a legislative house”) (Compare SB.)

   HB2

   • 2025 September 14, Abené Clayton, “Utah campus open carry law under fresh scrutiny after Charlie Kirk shooting”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Utah has allowed for permitless open and concealed carry of weapons since 2021. But before the passage of HB 128, firearms had to be concealed when carried on college campuses.

5. (American football) Initialism of halfback.
6. (gymnastics) Initialism of horizontal bar.
7. (gymnastics) Initialism of high bar.
8. Clipping of HB pencil

Related terms

horizontal branch

• AGB
• BHB
• TRGB
• ZAHB

house bill

• AB
• AR
• HR
• SB
• SR

Phrase

HB

1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of happy birthday.

   Alternative form: HBD

Verb

HB (third-person singular simple present HBs, present participle HBing, simple past and past participle HBed or HB'd)

1. (transitive, Internet slang) Initialism of hard-block.

   Alternative form: hb

   Coordinate term: SB (“soft-block”)

   • 2021 September 1, Jekyll (@rottingca9s), Twitter‎^[2]:

     i have a handful of moots that if they sb'd or hb'd me id genuinely be upset this app has ruined me huh

Anagrams

• B"H, B&H, BH

German

Noun

HB

1. (Switzerland) initialism of Hauptbahnhof (“central/main train station”)

   Synonym: Hbf.

Further reading

• “HB” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhoːbə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːbə
• Hyphenation: H‧B

Noun

HB

1. initialism of hjemmebrent (“moonshine”)
   • 1959, Aftenposten, page 7:

     «Mur av uvidenhet» når lensmannen vil efterforske HB. Hjemmebrenning på Auraanlegget i alle år

     "Wall of ignorance" when the sheriff wants to investigate HB. Moonshining at the Auraanlegg in all years

Derived terms

• HB-apparat (“apparatus for distilling moonshine”)

Anagrams

• BH, bh

Swedish

Noun

HB

1. initialism of handelsbolag (“general partnership”)
2. (slang) initialism of hembränt (“moonshine”)

   Synonym: hb

   Har nån fixat HB?

   Did anyone get moonshine?

Anagrams

• BH, bh