▪ I. mob, n.1
(mɒb)
Also 7–8 mobb.
[Abbreviation of mobile n.2 Cf. the following:
1711 Addison Spect. No. 135 ¶10 It is perhaps this Humour of speaking no more than we needs must which has so miserably curtailed some of our Words,..as in mob. rep. pos. incog. and the like. a 1734 North Exam. iii vii. (1740) 574, I may note the Rabble first changed their Title, and were called the Mob in the Assemblies of this [the King's Head] Club. It was their Beast of Burthen, and called first, mobile vulgus, but fell naturally into the Contraction of one Syllable. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. Introd., Wks. VI. 234 Abbreviations exquisitely refined; As Pozz for Positively, Mobb for Mobile.]
1. a. The disorderly and riotous part of the population, the roughs, the rabble; an assemblage of the rabble; a tumultuous crowd bent on, or liable to be incited to, acts of lawlessness and outrage. More recently also spec. in Social Psychol.
| 1688 Verney Mem. (1899) IV. 447 [13 Dec.] The Mobb carried away the very boards and rafters. [Cf. 1688 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 486 (12 Dec.) This night the mobile were up again (etc.).] 1692 Jacobite Conventicle 19 But Common⁓wealths why should we rob, Of th' Glory of a Ruling Mob. 1695 C. Hatton in H. Corr. (Camden) II. 216 For thes 2 nights a great mob have been up in Holborn and Drury Lane. 1774 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) I. 25 We shall be under the domination of a riotous mob. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. (ed. 2) 125 Lord George Gordon..having..raised a mob (excuse the term, it is still in use here) which pulled down all our prisons. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 559 The army had become a mob. 1874 Green Short Hist. x. (1878) 729 When mobs were roaring themselves hoarse for ‘Wilkes and liberty’. 1897 E. A. Ross in Pop. Sci. Monthly July 390 (heading) The mob mind. Ibid., Great mental instability marks the true mob. 1931 E. S. Bogardus Fund. Social Psychol. (ed. 2) xxv. 315 A mob is a crowd in a very high state of suggestibility. 1940 E. A. Strecker Beyond Clin. Frontiers iv. 60 Lynching mobs, certain strike mobs, etc. furnish examples of positive reality-evasion action en masse. 1959 Gill & Brenman Hypnosis ix. 293 Such people are sometimes said to be hypnotized. They show regressive phenomena similar to those revealed by a mob. 1973 G. R. Leslie et al. Order & Change: Introd. Sociol. xi. 289 Although scientific interest in mobs and riots as mechanisms of social change is relatively new, the phenomena themselves have existed throughout history. |
† b. One of the mob.
Obs.| 1706 Farquhar Recruiting Officer ii. (1707) 18 Enter Kite, with a Mob in each Hand drunk. |
2. The common mass of people; the lower orders; the uncultured or illiterate as a class; the populace, the masses.
This is noted by Swift among the vulgarisms for which he censures Burnet's History.
| 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. xxiv, An idle Notion..that intoxicated the beliefs of the Mob. 1695 Dryden tr. Dufresnoy's Art Paint. Pref. 26 A very Monster in a Bartholomew-Fair for the Mob to gape at for their two-pence. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1900) II. iii. v. 70 At least he [the Prince of Orange] thought religion was only for the mob. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. i. 91 She sat among the Mob in the Gallery. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones i. ix, Refusing to gratify the good-natured disposition of the mob. [Note] Whenever this word occurs in our writings, it intends persons without virtue, or sense, in all stations. 1752 ― Covent Gard. Jrnl. 13 June, Three estates, namely kings, lords, and commons, all entirely passing by in silence that very large and powerful body which form the fourth estate in this community, and have been long dignified and distinguished by the name of ‘the mob’. 1779–81 Johnson L. P., Pope Wks. IV. 42, I, says Pope, have the town, that is, the mob, on my side. 1795 Southey Lett. fr. Spain (1799) 50 The opinion of this forgiving power vested in the church, will, among the mob of mankind, destroy the motives to virtue. 1831 Ld. Brougham Sp. 7 Oct. (1838) II. 599, I do not mean the populace—the mob: I never have bowed to them. Ibid. 600 But if there is the mob, there is the people also. I speak now of the middle classes. 1868 Duff Pol. Surv. 143 The mob of the great cities..is hostile to us. |
† 3. Without
the: Disorderly or lower-class people forming a crowd.
Obs.| 1693 Humours Town 128 A number of undistinguishable mob. 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 44 ¶3 A cluster of mob, who were making themselves merry with their betters. 1721 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 15, I saw the street..full of mob. 1751 Chesterfield Lett. 18 Mar. (1774) II. 118 Every numerous assembly is mob, let the individuals who compose it be what they will. 1789 A. Young Trav. France (1890) 210 Great riots at Belfort:—last night a body of mob and peasants demanded of the magistrates the arms in the magazine. |
4. a. A promiscuous assemblage of people; a multitude or aggregation of persons regarded as not individually important. In
Austral. and
N.Z. use, without disparaging implication, a crowd; (
N.Z.) a crowd, a group, a gang of workmen.
| 1688 Capt. Southouse Taking K. James, etc. (B. M. Add. MS. 32091–96, lf. 3), These Gent. mob [app. meaning the king and his friends] were much perplex'd to get a coach. 1700 Dryden Cock & Fox 328 Fancy..Compounds a Medley of disjointed Things, A Mob of Coblers and a Court of Kings. a 1704 T. Brown Praise Wealth Wks. 1730 I. 87 The applauses the mob of quality gave to the Don's oration. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 108 But for the Wits of either Charles's days, The Mob of Gentlemen who wrote with Ease; Sprat, Carew, Sedley, and a hundred more. 1742 Young Nt. Th. viii. 1088 Earth's genuine sons, the scepter'd, and the slave, A mingl'd mob! a wand'ring herd! 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 206 Train him in public with a mob of boys. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab v. 58 Gold: Before whose image bow..The mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and kings. 1830 in J. West Hist. Tasmania (1852) II. 42 A mob of natives appeared at Captain Smith's hut. 1834 in R. McNab Old Whaling Days (1913) App. C. 424 A mob of natives came running into the hut where we stopped. 1845 N.Z. Company Rep. XIX. 70 The Pah is small, and occupied by a few Natives, the crops, as I understood, being the property of several ‘mobs’ in different parts of the Sound. 1852 Austral. & N.Z. Gaz. 10 Jan. 11/2 In Major Hornbrook's words ‘the Stedfast's mob is a much jollier mob than that of the Duke of Bronte’. 1860 G. Duppa in S. S. Crawford Sheep & Sheepmen Canterbury (1949) v. 48 Commence shearing with a strong mob of shearers. 1863 F. E. Maning Old N.Z. iv. 66 It was ‘our mob’ coming to the rescue. 1875 Helps Ess., Party-Spirit 100 Those who think whatever the little mob in which they live pleases to think. 1877 Ht. Martineau's Autobiog. III. 177 Young men who deprecated the tyranny of a moneyed mob. 1884 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Melb. Mem. ix, He..was one of the ‘Dunmore mob’, and aided generally in the symposia which were there enjoyed. 1888 ― Robbery under Arms xix, At the side of the crowd was a small mob of blacks. 1890 Melbourne Argus 16 Aug. 13/2 It doesn't seem possible to get a mob of steady men for work of that sort now. 1907 W. H. Koebel Return of Joe 257 [He] had but a few hours ago formed one of their ‘mob’, and [was] the most skilful bushwhacker in the district. 1941 Coast to Coast 214 The mob around the bar was thinning down, with chaps grabbing their bundles and going off home. 1944 Living off Land viii. 155 You may meet the Abo. He may be only a poor specimen on the outskirts of a township, or he may be a ‘mob’ of half-wild blokes in the furthest nor'west. 1960 S. Ashton-Warner Incense to Idols 23, I know one girl from another, course you do in my mob anyway. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 27 Hunter pushed his way through the mob, every one of whom he knew,..and sat down at the table. |
b. transf. and
fig. A heterogeneous collection or crowd (of things).
Obs. exc. Austral. Also
quasi-adv.| 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 65 She sees a Mob of Metaphors advance. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 1437 'Twill not make one amid a mob of thoughts. 1844 Port Philip Patriot 22 July 2/6 They buttoned up in front; the only suit in the mob which did so. 1892 G. Parker Round Compass in Austral. v. 72 My wife..insisted on my carrying this book to you..and if it was in your mob of books, to give this copy to somebody that would appreciate it. 1934 A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Austral. xiii. 91 There'll be mobs of water on the track, we'll get mobs of beef at the runs, the stages'll be mobs shorter, an' there'll be mobs better camping grounds... And of course we'll be able to take it mobs easier. 1942 C. Barrett On the Wallaby iii. 41 Even an offer of..mobs of tucker..failed to gain me a guide. |
c. orig. Austral. A flock or drove of animals.
(The form
mop in
quot. 1836 is
perh. a mistake.)
| 1836 in Three Yrs. Exper. of Settler in N.S.W. 44 (Morris) While I watched the mop [of cattle] I had collected. 1838 T. Walker Month in Bush 8, I beheld a level plain,..with..‘mobs’ of cattle scattered over the surface. 1843 J. Cotton Let. July in Billis & Kenyon Pastures New (1930) xiii. 227, I inspected a mob (as it is termed here) of the cattle. 1846 G. H. Haydon 5 Yrs. in Austral. Felix iii. 59 The ‘old men’ kangaroos are always the largest and strongest in the flock, or in colonial language, ‘mob’. 1850 Househ. Words 6 Apr. 42/2, I was going down to Sydney with a mob of horses. 1853 R. Clough Let. 24 Sept. in J. Deans Pioneers of Canterbury (1937) 295, I should like to put all the calvers in one mob. 1875 Melbourne Spectator 22 May 34/2 A mob of sheep has been sold at Belfast at 1s. 10d. per head. 1875 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. VII. 130 For about 400 birds of this large size to have been roasted in so small a compass in one mob would be a physical impossibility. 1906 J. Oxenham John of Gerisau ix, At last..we sighted him [a white colt], galloping quietly along in the centre of the very last mob of all. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 5 July 21/3 The dog was turning the mob to work over the fallen animal. 1936 I. L. Idriess Cattle King vii. 63 A squatter was overlanding with a big mob of stock. 1940 Geogr. Jrnl. XCV. 242 There is now only one firm remaining which has a mob of mules. 1964 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 27 Sept. 3/5 Behind him..were the ragged outriders of the mob... I knew he didn't stand a chance of clearing those terrible hooves. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 35 A small mob of wild pigs, mostly white with black spots. 1972 P. Newton Sheep Thief ii. 20 The two men had taken out a mob of ewes. |
d. Shetland dial. A ‘school’ of whales.
| 1898 Shetland News 30 July (E.D.D.), It is believed this shoal [of whales] consisted of two mobs. |
e. Mil. slang. A battalion, a regiment; a military unit.
| 1916 J. N. Hall (title) Kitchener's mob. 1916 Anzac Book 32 Yes; some d-d gobblers thought they would catch our mob nappin' but missed the bus. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 156 Mob, any collection or body of troops. A very old Army term. 1948 Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 120 Mob, unit, not necessarily in a derogatory sense. ‘What mob are you from, chum?’ 1972 M. Pugh Murmur of Mutiny iv. 34 You must have heard of Sharjah and the Trucial Oman Scouts. This mob is modelled on them. |
5. slang. a. A company or gang of thieves or pickpockets working in collusion. Also, a member of such a company.
swell mob, a class of pickpockets who dress stylishly to carry on their occupation; see also
swell a. c.
| 1839 H. Brandon Poverty, Mendicity & Crime 164/1 Mobs—companions. Working with mobs. Robbing with companions. 1843 Punch IV. 129/1 The swell mob—they are there. 1846 Landor Imag. Conv., Southey & L. Wks. 1853 II. 156/1 Making room for the swell-mob of authors to pass by. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1864) I. 234/1 Some classes of patterers..work in ‘schools’ or ‘mobs’ of two, three, or four. 1859 Slang Dict., School, or mob, two or more ‘patterers’ working together in the streets. 1884 Standard 6 June 6/3 There were about twenty mobs (pickpockets) that never got a rap. |
b. U.S. A more or less permanent association or gang of violent criminals.
The Mob, a supposed permanent gang controlling much of organized crime in the
U.S. and elsewhere;
cf. mafia. Also
attrib. and
Comb., amongst gangs, on behalf of a mob or ‘The Mob’.
| 1927 Amer. Speech II. 385/1 Any kind of a gang was known as a push, a word credited to Australia, but I think it is a sister of the mob of the city underworld. 1930 Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves! xi. 302 By the time he had come to the surface, a sort of mob-warfare was going on at the other side of the field. 1952 Turkus & Feder Murder, Inc. xv. 345 One mob baron..‘moved in’ to the extent that he had his picture taken in a friendly pose with a candidate for the vice-presidency of the United States. 1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 134 Within a year control of the New York numbers racket passed into the dominion of a mob enforcer. 1969 Guardian 24 Jan. 7/6 The Mob from its Chicago headquarters runs the subcontinent. 1975 ‘A. Thackeray’ One Way Ticket 23 Better watch out... It could be the Mafia, the Mob, or whatever they call it these days. |
6. attrib. and
Comb.:
a. simple
attrib. (senses 1 and 2), as
mob action,
mob-assembly,
mob-associator,
mob behaviour,
mob-cause,
mob-condemnation,
mob control,
mob-culture,
mob-emotion,
mob-fancy,
mob favour,
mob-fever,
mob gentry,
mob-government,
mob-hysteria,
mob-idol,
mob-indignation,
mob-leader,
mob-madness,
mob mania,
mob-meeting,
mob mind,
mob-movement,
mob-orator,
mob-oratory,
mob petition,
mob-psychology,
mob-reaction,
mob rule,
mob scene,
mob-sensation,
mob-storm,
mob-sycophancy,
mob-tide,
mob-tyranny,
mob-violence,
mob-way,
mob-will,
mob-worship;
mob-like adj. b. objective, as
mob-adoring,
mob-fearing,
mob-inspiring adjs. c. instrumental, as
mob-election;
mob-created,
mob-guided,
mob led adjs.| 1972 Turner & Killian Collective Behavior (ed. 2) iii. 49/2 *Mob action is frequently nothing more than culturally sanctioned punishment carried out by unauthorized persons without ‘due process’. |
| 1828 E. Irving Last Days 304 The *mob-adoring press. |
| a 1734 North Exam. i. ii. (1740) 66 This *Mob-assembly was drawn together for the Purpose of Terror. |
| 1750 Carte Hist. Eng. II. 135 These *mob-associators broke open houses by night. |
| 1973 G. R. Leslie et al. Order & Change: Introd. Sociol. xi. 289 The distinction between *mob behavior and riot behavior has to do with the degree to which the hostility is focussed upon a single object or class of objects. When the hostility is so directed and is concentrated on destruction of particular scape⁓goats, the term ‘mob’ is used. |
| 1721 Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 43 (1754) 226, I do not intend to enumerate all the strong holds of this prevailing *mob-cause [sc. High-Church]. |
| 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pornogr. & Obscenity 9 When it comes to the so-called obscene words,..the first reaction is almost sure to be mob-reaction, mob-indignation, *mob-condemnation. |
| 1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at the Office (1972) 89 The gun is the primary tool in situations of *mob control. |
| 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 280 Your true *mob-created great man. |
| 1968 L. Durrell Tunc v. 269 A surrogate *mob-culture. |
| 1823 Moore Fables 9 Where Kings have been by *mob-elections Rais'd to the throne. |
| 1928 D. H. Lawrence Woman who rode Away 231 A steam of wet *mob-emotions! 1929 Galsworthy in Story-Teller Mag. Aug. 597/2 Impervious by nature and training to mob-emotion Soames yet was emotionalized. Here was something that was not mere mob-sensation. |
| 1841 C. Mackay Mem. Pop. Delus. I. 329 It tickled the *mob-fancy mightily. |
| 1835 Lytton Rienzi x. iii, Too vulgar a desire of *mob favour. |
| 1935 A. L. James Broadcast Word i. 5 It will have cleansed our political life of its *mob-fever. |
| 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. (ed. 2) II. 97 If they are *mob-guided, *mob-fearing people. |
| 1722 De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) 200 The assurance gave the *mob gentry a check. |
| 1770 Burke Pres. Discont. Sel. Wks. I. 23 Whilst they are terrifying the great and opulent with the horrors of *mob government. |
| 1895 W. James Let. 24 Dec. (1920) II. 28 Three days of fighting *mob-hysteria at Washington can at any time undo peace habits of a hundred years. 1934 R. Campbell Broken Record 59 Race-feeling, mob-hysteria. |
| a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) II. 169 Nelson was a *mob-idol indeed. |
| 1929 *Mob-indignation [see mob-condemnation above]. |
| 1782 J. Trumbull M'Fingal iv. 95 And while plebeian signs ascend, Their *mob-inspiring aspects bend. |
| 1834 New Monthly Mag. XLI. 59 In their ambition to be *mob-leaders, they were, in fact, *mob-led. |
| 1796 W. Cooke Conversation iii. 34 That *mob⁓like education of the streets. |
| 1901 E. A. Ross Social Control xiii. 147 *Mob-madness leads men captive to the impressions of the moment. |
| 1935 L. MacNeice Poems 60 *Mob mania in the air. |
| 1714 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1733) II. 41 In all *mob-meetings,..the entertainment in general is abominable. |
| 1897 *Mob mind [see sense 1 above]. 1933 Essays & Stud. XVIII. 61 After half a century's work on the mob-mind psychologists are agreed that a crowd is an entirely different problem from an individual. 1964 Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 433/2 The irrationality and excesses of which people are capable when acting under the influence of the ‘mob mind’. |
| 1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xvi. 338 But revolution is not a *mob-movement. |
| 1817 H. C. Robinson Diary 13 Feb. (1967) 54 One Walker spoke also—a coarse *mob-orator with a stentorian voice. 1839 Whittier Pr. Wks. (1889) II. 333 The mob-orator of Clare and Kerry. 1965 Punch 13 Jan. 55/1 Hitler the rabble⁓rouser, Hitler the mob-orator. |
| 1961 John o' London's 9 Nov. 517/2 His [sc. Hitler's] megalomaniac *mob-oratory. |
| 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 312 The *mob petition from Bucks was presented to the king. |
| 1896 W. James Let. 11 June (1920) II. 36 The really bad thing here is the silly wave that has gone over the public mind—protection humbug, silver, jingoism, etc. It is a case of ‘*mob-psychology’. 1938 R. G. Collingwood Princ. Art v. 91 They cannot as a whole exhibit a compact mob-psychology. |
| 1929 *Mob-reaction [see mob-condemnation above]. |
| 1869 McLaren Serm. Ser. ii. vii. 123 The willing spirit sets us free,..free from the *mob rule of Passions and Appetites. |
| 1922 U. Sinclair They call me Carpenter vii. 20 They're a lot of studio bums, doing a real *mob scene on a real location. 1937 Printers' Ink Monthly May 39/3 Mob scene, a group of performers used as a background. |
| 1929 *Mob-sensation [see mob-emotion above]. |
| 1865 J. D. Burn Three Yrs. among Working-Classes U.S. p. xiii, A series of *mob-storms would be sure to set in. |
| 1849 Mill in Westm. Rev. LI. 16 One hardly expected to hear them taunted with..*mob-sycophancy. |
| 1881 ‘Mark Twain’ Prince & Pauper 127 The *mob-tide..dashed itself against the champion. |
| 1893 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Feb. 6/1, I don't approve of *mob violence. 1949 LaPiere & Farnsworth Social Psychol. (ed. 3) xxv. 471 There is a close relationship between critical social circumstances and mob violence. 1969 M. B. Arnold in T. Mischel Human Action 192 Emotions, whether mob-violence or passive love-ins, seem to have been chosen by many young people as sole guide of their actions. |
| c 1800 R. Cumberland John De Lancaster (1809) II. 280 A propensity in the town's-folk to..administer tumultuous justice in their own *mob-way. |
| 1924 J. Masefield Sard Harker 51 Never had I thought that my fellow-citizens of Las Palomas would try to impose the *mob-will upon the individual. |
| 1893 E. Dowson Let. c 27 Aug. (1967) 288 ‘One View of the Question’, a beautiful piece of satire on English *mob-worship. |
7. Special comb.:
mob courtship, courtship among the lower classes;
mob defence, defence by the populace as opposed to military defence;
† mob-driver, one who incites a mob;
mob feast nonce-wd., a banquet open to every one;
mob law, ‘law’ imposed and enforced by a mob;
mob-man = mobsman;
mob-master, one who controls a mob;
mob opinion, the opinion of the illiterate or uncultured;
mob reader, a reader belonging to the mob;
† mob story, a story circulating among the mob.
| 1883 Ruskin Fors Clav. xc. 167 There are no words strong enough to express the general danger and degradation of the manners of *mob-courtship, as distinct from these. |
| 1845 W. H. Maxwell Hints Soldier on Service I. 239 No city..afforded the same advantages, for what might be termed a *mob-defence. |
| a 1734 North Exam. i. iii. (1740) 126 Colonel Mildmay, an old Rumper, and late *Mob-driver in Essex. Ibid. ii. v. 343 A Sideling-Writer..shall cry, O! the Papists are set up; just as his Mob-Drivers did to their Rabble. |
| 1830 Moore Mem. (1854) VI. 150 This is the third dinner..one of the others being a *mob feast, at six shillings a-head. |
| 1823 Bentham Not Paul 347 As has been seen in the case of Saint Stephen,..a sort of *mob-law might..be stated as forming part and parcel of the law of Moses. |
| 1747 in New Jersey Archives (1883) 1st Ser. VII. 428 He discoursing with several of the *mobmen,..has heard them [say]..that the King himself was unable to quell mobs in England. 1835 Maryland Hist. Mag. IX. 160 You may see large companies of worthies marching to and fro, and a mob man, as such, cannot be seen. |
| a 1734 North Exam. iii. vii. (1740) 571 *Mob-Masters..that upon the Watch-word, are to bring forward some hare-brained Rout, which they call the People. |
| 1769 Warburton in Pope's Ep. Cobham 135 note, This, though a mere *mob-opinion, is the opinion in fashion, and cherished by the Mob of all denominations. |
| 1697 Dryden æneid Ded. (e) 3 b, Such things as are our Upper-Gallery Audience in a Play-House... These are *Mobb-Readers. |
| 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 9 ¶12 Do you..believe the *mob-story, that King George designs to make a bridge of boats from Hannover to Wapping? |
▪ II. mob, n.2 Obs. exc. Hist. (
mɒb)
[Cf. mab n., mob v.1, and mob-cap.] † 1. Cant. A strumpet.
Obs.| 1665 R. Head English Rogue i. lvii (end), We kist and parted; I sigh'd, she did sob; she for her lusty Lad, I for my Mob. 1673 ― Canting Acad. 13 Mob, a Wench or Whore. Ibid. 192 When a Mob he has bit, his Cole he will tell. 1697 N. Lee Princess of Cleve Prol., The little Mob, the City Wastcoateer. |
† 2. A négligé attire, a dishabille; also
attrib. mob-dress.
Obs.| 1665 R. Head English Rogue i. x, Their Mobs Scarfs, and Hoods all rent. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 71. 3/2 It shines..As Beauty does, tho' in a Mob-Dress. 1710 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 13 Dec., The ladies were all in mobs (how do you call it?) undrest. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 302 ¶11 Wrapping Gowns and dirty Linnen, with all that huddled Oeconomy of Dress which passes under the general Name of a Mob. |
3. = mob-cap.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. iii. 29 Her head-dress was a Brussels-lace mob, peculiarly adapted to the charming air and turn of her features. 1790 Malone Shaks. Wks., Ham. ii. ii. 525 note, The ordinary morning head⁓dress of ladies continued to be distinguished by the name of a mab, to almost the end of the reign of George the second. 1793 Steevens Ibid., In the counties of Essex and Middlesex, this morning cap has always been called a mob, and not a mab. My spelling of the word therefore agrees with its most familiar pronunciation. 1805 Sporting Mag. XXVI. 221 Some ladies talking of the revived fashionable headdress—mobs. 1830 A. E. Bray Fitz of F. xxi, A neat little old woman, wearing a close mob and pinners. |
▪ III. mob, n.3 (
mɒb)
(See
quot.)
| 1852 Seidel Organ 150 The mob is a sort of brush, consisting of threads of wool or silk, which are glued on to a thin handle of wood or wire. |
▪ IV. † mob, v.1 Obs. [Cf. mab v., mob n.2, moble v.] 1. trans. To muffle the head of (a person); to dress untidily. Also
to mob up.
| 1664 H. More Exp. 7 Epist. Pref. b 2, Men..having..Chins as smooth as Womens, and their Faces mob'd in Hoods. 1681 ― Expos. Dan. i. Notes 22 Monks and Friers mob'd in their Cools and long Coats. 1720 Gay Eclogues, Tea-table, Yet in the gall'ry mob'd, she sits secure. a 1745 Swift Story Injured Lady (1746) 3, I go always mobbed, and in an Undress. 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. xc. Wks. (Globe) 232 [He] shall sit..mobbed up in double night-caps. |
2. to mob (it),
to go a-mobbing: to go in disguise, or attired so as to escape recognition, to the unfashionable part of a theatre, etc. Hence (? associated with
mob n.1), to frequent low company.
| [1720: see 1.] 1727 De Foe Hist. Appar. iv. 43, I don't wonder such as these go a mobbing among those meanest of mad Things call'd Free-Masons; rough Cheats, and confess'd Delusions are the fittest things to amuse them. 1772 Town & Country Mag. 85/2 At the play one night with the Freemans, mobbing it in the gallery. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia iv. vii, Warrant I'll mob with the best of them! 1825–9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor I. ix. 389, I don't want you to make your appearance, I want to go incognito, to mob it, you know, to go in masquerade, and sit in the gallery. 1837 New Monthly Mag. LI. 36 He cannot mob it to see a play in the pit. |
▪ V. mob, v.2 (
mɒb)
[f. mob n.1] 1. a. trans. To attack in a mob or disorderly crowd; to crowd round and molest or annoy; to press unduly upon; to throng; also in
pass. to be attacked or surrounded by such a mob.
| 1709 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 494 Last week a corn factor..had like to have been mobb'd. 1717 De Foe Mem. Ch. Scotl. ii. 27 They mobbed the Presbytery, beat and very ill treated..the Moderator. 1719 Rhode Island Col. Rec. (1859) IV. 259 'Tis very wonderful to me..that none of His Majesty's officers of the custom, have been mobbed, and torn in pieces by the rabble. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 262 The crowd were very abusive, following us, and mobbing us. 1828 Macaulay in Edin. Rev. May, Whenever any tolerable book of the same description makes its appearance, the circulating libraries are mobbed. 1884 Manch. Exam. 4 Oct. 4/7 The Alcade of the town having made himself obnoxious to the people, they mobbed the Courthouse. 1894 Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. 63 The populace..mobbed and derided him in the streets. |
b. To force (a person)
into (an action, etc.), drive him
from (a place) by mobbing him.
spec. in bird behaviour, to engage in
mobbing (
vbl. n.2 1 c).
| 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 159 The king was obliged to leave them.., for fear of being mobbed into something..unworthy of himself. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 7 Between one and another, I was fairly mobbed into it. 1861 W. Phillips Disunion 6 Throughout half the great cities of the North, every one who touches on it [the slavery question] is mobbed into silence! 1927 E. M. Nicholson How Birds Live vii. 87 An owl appears and is surrounded by a clamorous crowd of small birds which proceed to mob it. 1936 Brit. Birds XXX. 28 Usually when seen it was sitting in a tree, and it was much ‘mobbed’ by Rooks. 1938 T. H. White Sword in Stone xvii. 250 They [sc. rooks] have got the courage to mob their enemies. I should think it takes some courage to mob a hawk, even if there is a pack of you. 1965 P. Wayre Wind in Reeds v. 62 The falcon, sometimes..accompanied by the tiercel, would fly out and mob us. |
2. intr. To form a mob, to congregate in a mob or disorderly crowd; also
to mob it.
| 1711 E. Ward Vulgus Brit. viii. 96 For those that Mob, like noisy Knaves, Against the Law, with Clubs and Staves. 1728 Woolston Disc. Miracles iv. 61 If they did mob it to their own disappointment, about the Door of the House. 1753 Foote Eng. in Paris i. Wks. 1799 I. 37 They ha'nt spirit enough to mob here. 1826 Hood Fairy Tale v, With dusty hides, all mobbing on together. 1840 ― Miss Kilmansegg, Fancy Ball ix, As many more Mob round the door To see them going to see it. 1845 W. H. Maxwell Hints Soldier on Service I. 74 Perceiving their unsteadiness when mobbed together in the repulse. |
3. nonce-use. To mix
up with a mob.
| 1847 Tennyson Princess vi. 289 That Which..drags me down From my fixt height to mob me up with all The soft and milky rabble of womankind. |
4. trans. To abuse, scold, rail at.
dial. Also
absol.| 1803 [see mobbing vbl. n.2 3]. a 1825 in Forby Voc. E. Anglia. 1903 Longm. Mag. July 253 ‘Let her mob, she'll sune get tired.’ |