▪ I. † mobbing, vbl. n.1 Obs.
[f. mob v.1 + -ing1.]
The action of mob v.1; in quot. attrib.
| 1825–9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor I. ix. 390 The mobbing-party for the theatre was determined upon and carried into effect. |
▪ II. mobbing, vbl. n.2
(ˈmɒbɪŋ)
[f. mob v.2 + -ing1.]
The action of mob v.2
1. a. Gathering in crowds; the action of a mob in assailing a person.
| a 1734 North Exam. iii. vii. (1740) 579 The Spirit of the Faction was not broken till..the Rye Conspiracy was discovered; and then Mobbings were laid aside all at once. 1741 H. Walpole Lett. 12 Nov., It is Admiral Vernon's birthday..and the night will be full of mobbing, bonfires, and lights. 1816 Remarks Eng. Mann. 32, I never heard any one..say that the mobbing of a London rout was any thing but insipid. |
| attrib. 1781 S. Peters Hist. Connecticut 411 David Wooster, the rebel General, Benedict Arnold's old acquaintance and mobbing confederate. |
b. Sc. Law. (See quot. 1959.)
| 1800 D. Hume Commentaries Law of Scotl. IV. xvi. 228 A multitude may be convened for a criminal purpose without being guilty of mobbing. 1885 Manch. Exam. 18 Mar. 4/7 Two of the prisoners..pleaded guilty to charges of mobbing and rioting. 1898 J. Chisholm Green's Encycl. Law of Scotl. 370 In the law of Scotland mobbing, or ‘the Tumultuous Convocation of the Lieges’, includes the several degrees and stages of disorder which are known in the law of England under the names of Riot, Rout, and Unlawful Assembly. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. XII. 327/2 Mobbing is violent or threatening action taken in an effort to obtain a definite end and this distinguishes it from rioting and breach of the peace which are disorderly conduct at large. 1973 Observer 4 Feb. 29/4 We almost goat ye fur mobbin' an' riotin'. |
c. Esp. in bird behaviour, a type of display in which a group of small birds engages to drive off a predator, or a similar kind of display exhibited by one or two birds, in which they fly close to the object of their apparent aggression. Also attrib.
| 1919 F. Finn Bird Behaviour ix. 275 The mobbing of Hawks and Owls is no doubt often dictated by revenge. 1927 E. M. Nicholson How Birds Live vii. 93 Akin to fighting and play, but not identifiable with either, is the mobbing habit. 1936 Brit. Birds XXIX. 307 The ‘mobbings’ of nesting Rooks by other members of the colony..are sexual in origin. 1949 Ibid. XLII. 64 This behaviour is certainly in no way analogous to the so-called ‘mobbing’ of predatory birds. 1961 Behaviour IV. 288 (title) The motivational organisation controlling the mobbing calls of the Blackbird. |
2. Hunting.
| 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 213 When hounds are at cold hunting with a bad scent, it may then be a proper time to send a whipper-in forward: if he can see the fox, a little mobbing, at such a time as this may reasonably be allowed. |
3. ? Abusive treatment, scolding (see mob v.2 4).
| 1803 Censor 1 Mar. 35 If he has not enough to give something to the waiter and the ostler, he must..undergo a good (or rather a bad) mobbing from these gentry. |
▪ III. mobbing, ppl. a.
(ˈmɒbɪŋ)
[f. mob v.2 + -ing2.]
That gathers in a mob.
| 1842 F. Barham Socrates 48 Till the mobbing populace shall catch a sparkle of their radiance. |