From Middle English bobben (“to move up and down or back and forth”), of uncertain origin. Compare Scots bob (“to mark, dance with a bobbing motion”), Icelandic boppa (“to wave up and down”), Swedish bobba (“to bob”), Faroese bøbbur (“something that rises or stands up; top”), Dutch dobberen (“to float, bob”).
Meanings
A bobbing motion; a quick up and down movement.
a bob of the head
A curtsy.
A bobber (buoyant fishing device).
Or yellow bobs turn’d up before the plough / Are chiefest baits, with cork and lead enough. 1613, John Dennys, The Secrets of Angling:
From Middle English bobben (“to move up and down or back and forth”), of uncertain origin. Compare Scots bob (“to mark, dance with a bobbing motion”), Icelandic boppa (“to wave up and down”), Swedish bobba (“to bob”), Faroese bøbbur (“something that rises or stands up; top”), Dutch dobberen (“to float, bob”).
Meanings
(intransitive) To move gently and vertically, in either a single motion or repeatedly up and down, at or near the surface of a body of water, or similar medium.
The ball, which we had thought lost, suddenly bobbed up out of the water.
The cork bobbed gently in the calm water.
The flowers were bobbing in the wind.
(transitive) To move (something) as though it were bobbing in water.
bob one’s head
I bobbed my head underwater and saw the goldfish.
(transitive, with-on) To move (something) as though it were bobbing in water. ▸ To perform oral sex on someone.
She bobbed on his knob.
To curtsy.
To strike with a quick, light blow; to tap.
And if any man hapned, by longe sittynge, to slepe, or, by any other countenance, to shewe him selfe to be weary, he was sodaynly bobbed on the face by the seruantes of Nero, […] 1531, Thomas Elyot, “In what wise musike may be to a noble man necessarie: and what modestie ought to be therin”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], →OCLC, 1st book, page 26:
[…] I have bob'd your vviſe Guardian Mayor too, vvho, I hear, is crackt-brain'd yonder for loſs of his Heireſs, vvhom I have atchieved and married here in ſpite of ye by dint of Brain and Merit. [1703], Tho[mas] d’Urfey, The Old Mode & the New, or, Country Miss with Her Furbeloe. A Comedy. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott, and sold by Samuel Clark, […], Francis Faucet […], and Lucas Stowkey […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, page 68:
Lo, lo, lo, lo, what modicums of wit he vtters, his euaſions haue eares thus long, I haue bobd his braine more then he has beate my bones. c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature [C4], recto:
(intransitive) Synonym of blob (“catch eels using worms strung on thread”).
After they had had supper Frank said, Do you remember those men whom we saw near Norwich, who sat in small boats all the night long, and with a line in each hand, bobbed for eels? 1876, George Christopher Davies, The Swan and Her Crew, page 134:
mi mārangaranga (move vertically at surface of water) · ru подска́кивать (move (something) as though it were bobbing in water) · it sballottare (move (something) as though it were bobbing in water) · nl deinen (move vertically at surface of water) · cs poskakovat (move vertically at surface of water) · bg подскачам (move vertically at surface of water) · ru подпры́гнуть (move (something) as though it were bobbing in water) · ru подскочи́ть (move (something) as though it were bobbing in water) · it ondeggiare (move vertically at surface of water) · bg клатя се (move vertically at surface of water) · ru выны́ривать (move vertically at surface of water) · it dondolare (move vertically at surface of water) · eo balanciĝi (move vertically at surface of water) · fr ballotter (move vertically at surface of water) · sv guppa (move vertically at surface of water) · ru подпры́гивать (move (something) as though it were bobbing in water) · nl dobberen (move vertically at surface of water) · cs pohupovat se (move vertically at surface of water) · cs houpat se (move vertically at surface of water) · it traballare (move vertically at surface of water) · it spuntare fuori (move vertically at surface of water) · ru кача́ться (move vertically at surface of water) · ru вы́нырнуть (move vertically at surface of water)
From Middle English bobbe (“a cluster (of fruit); a twig with its leaves, a spray”), perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Irish baban "tassel, cluster," Gaelic babag).
Meanings
A bob haircut.
Whether your hair covers your head in short curls, a pert pixie cut, smooth braids, or a long bob, do yourself a good turn by finding the styles which are most becoming to you. 1955, Adah Broadbent, Teen-Age Glamor, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, page 59:
Any round object attached loosely to a flexible line, a rod, a body part etc., so that it may swing when hanging from it.
Ecod! I have got them. Here they are. My cousin Con's necklaces, bobs and all. 1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer:
The dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line.
The docked tail of a horse.
The short runner of a sled.
A bobsleigh.
A small wheel, made of leather, with rounded edges, used in polishing spoons, etc.
A working beam in a steam engine.
A particular style of ringing changes on bells.
A blow; a shake or jog; a rap, as with the fist.
(obsolete) A knot or short curl of hair; also, a bob wig.
A plain brown bob he wore. 1737, William Shenstone, The Extent of Cookery:
(obsolete) The refrain of a song.
Ay, Ay, and Then to Bed, ſays the Bride. This Girl did but ſpeak the Widows Mind; for let Fleſh and Blood pretend what it will, to Bed, to Bed, will be the Bob of the Song. 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Abstemius, &c.] Fab[le] CCLXXXIII. A Widow had a mind to Marry.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 248:
A short line ending a stanza of a poem.
(obsolete) A jeer; a sharp jest or taunt.
Hee, that a Foole doth very wiſely hit,
Doth very fooliſhly, although he ſmart,
Seeme ſenſeleſſe of the bob. c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii], page 203, column 1, lines 53–55:
ru купи́рованный хвост (the docked tail of a horse) · bg припев (a short line ending a stanza) · ru отве́с (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line) · ru припе́в (a short line ending a stanza) · bg топка (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line) · bg висулка (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line) · bg подрязана опашка (the docked tail of a horse) · fr plomb (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line) · ru рефре́н (a short line ending a stanza) · bg тежест (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line) · ru по́лоз (the short runner of a sled) · bg опашка (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line) · bg поплавък (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line) · fr poids (the dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line)
From Middle English bobbe (“a cluster (of fruit); a twig with its leaves, a spray”), perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Irish baban "tassel, cluster," Gaelic babag).
Meanings
(transitive) To cut (hair) into a bob haircut.
[Shangai Lily:]There's only one thing I wouldn't have done, Doc.
[Harvey:] What, for instance?
[Shangai Lily:] I wouldn't have bobbed my hair. 1932, Jules Furthman, Shanghai Express:
I got my hair bobbed. How do you like it?
(transitive) To shorten by cutting; to dock; to crop.
To bobsleigh.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
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bobbing
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
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bobbed
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
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bobbed
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bobs
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
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Translations (2)
bg подстригвам късо (cut into a bob haircut) · cmn 剪波波头 (cut into a bob haircut)
(Australia, Kenya, New-Zealand, UK, dated, historical, slang) A shilling.
One of the bottlenosed fraternity it was went by the name of James Wought alias Saphiro alias Spark and Spiro, put an ad in the papers saying he'd give a passage to Canada for twenty bob. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 308:
[…] there was a sound of barking and a great hefty dog of the Hound of the Baskervilles type came galloping at me, obviously intent on mayhem,[…]. And I was just commending my soul to God and thinking that this was where my new flannel trousers got about thirty bobs' worth of value bitten out of them, […] 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
“’Ere y’are, the best rig-out you ever ’ad. A tosheroon [half a crown]^([sic]) for the coat, two ’ogs for the trousers, one and a tanner for the boots, and a ’og for the cap and scarf. That’s seven bob.” 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXIX, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC, pages 214–215:
(Australia, dated, slang) A 10-cent coin, ten cents.
(slang) An unspecified small amount of money.
So what can I do for you? Local charity, is it? Policeman's ball? Widows and orphans? I'm usually good for a bob or two. 1999 February 3, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Strangler's Wood”, in Midsomer Murders:
I could have saved myself a few bob buying it somewhere else.
A great many visitors are expected. They will take pictures of each other under the cherry blossoms and—the Chamber of Commerce hopes—spend a few bobs for hot logs, gasoline, eastern finery and souvenirs of the nation’s capital. 1949 March 23, “Capital Planning For Cherry Blossom Festival On April 3”, in Warren Times-Mirror, volume forty-nine, Warren, Pa., page twelve, column 1:
It was a Molotov cocktail to dispose of my mortal remains.
“Cor, what a beauty.”
“Hello, somebody’s thrown a match into a box of fireworks; easy to do.”
“A few bobs’ worth of whizzers gone up there, Mabel.” 1964, Len Deighton, “Tuesday, November 5th”, in Funeral in Berlin, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, published 1965, →LCCN, page 294:
A graphical element, resembling a hardware sprite, that can be blitted around the screen in large numbers.
The bob list determines the drawing priority […] 1986, Eugene P Mortimore, Amiga programmer's handbook, Volumes 1-2:
Changes: This release adds 2 new effects (bobs and unlimited bobs), has a GFX directory for sharing graphics, adds utility functions to the common code 2002, demoeffects, “Demotized 0.0.1 - A collection of demo effects from the early days of the demo scene.”, in fm.announce (Usenet):
IMHO, youd ^([sic]) be better doing other things with the CPU and letting the blitter draw bobs, esp on a machine with fast ram. 1995, John Girvin, “Blitting bobs”, in comp.sys.amiga.programmer (Usenet):