▪ I. bob, n.1
(bɒb)
[Of unknown origin: Ir. baban tassel, cluster, Gael. baban, babag, have been compared. Some of the senses are from bob v.1]
I. 1. A bunch or cluster (of leaves, flowers, fruit, etc.). north. Still in Scotland the name for a bunch, nosegay, or small bouquet of flowers.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 206 In his on honde he hadde a holyn bobbe. c 1400 MS. Lincoln A. i. 17. f. 42 (Halliw.) With wondere grete bobbis of grapes, for a mane myȝte unnethez bere ane of them. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 118 A bob of cherys. 1483 Cath. Angl. 36 A Bob of grapys, botrus. a 1548 Thrie Priests Peblis 21 (Jam.) The King the bob of birkis can wave. 1570 Levins Manip., A bobbe of leaves, frondetum. A bob of flowers, floretum. 1807 Hogg Mount. Bard 198 (Jam.) The rose an' hawthorn sweet I'll twine, To make a bobb for thee. Mod. Sc. To gather a bob of primroses. |
† 2. a. A rounded mass or lump at the end of a rod or the like; a knob. Obs. in general sense.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 252 [Lobsters'] hornes..haue a round point or bob at the end. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 66 A Rammer is a bob of wood at the other end to ramme home the Powder. a 1659 Osborn Misc. (1673) 589 Instead of an unsightly Bob, to form a sharp comely Bone. |
b. spec. The weight at the end of a pendulum.
| 1752 Phil. Trans. XLVII. 519 A pendulum..at the end of which is the bob or weight. 1828 Hutton Course Math. II. 222 A portable pendulum, made of painted tape with a brass bob at the end. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. xvii. §139 A pendulum..though unaffected in its movements by a change in the weight of the bob, alters its rate of oscillation when taken to the equator. |
c. The plummet or weight on a plumb-line; the shifting weight on the graduated arm of a steelyard (dial.); a beam or other oscillating part in a pumping engine (dial.).
| 1832 Mrs. Opie in Life (1854) 288 There is here the largest steam engine, perhaps, in Europe; when I entered the room, I went up to see the immense beam or bob. 1867 Denison Astron. without Math. 16 Seeing how much the plumb bob is pulled aside by the attraction of a mountain. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Bob (Cornwall), a triangular frame, by means of which the horizontal motion imparted from an engine is transformed into a vertical motion of the pump-rods in a shaft. |
d. A short sleigh-runner. N. Amer.
| 1857 Knickerbocker XLIX. 67 The ‘stage’ consisted of a rickety pair of bobs [etc.]. 1888 Farmer Americanisms, Bob or Bob Sled or Bob Sleigh, a sleigh used in the West for conveying large timber, its special characteristic being two pairs of bobs or short runners. 1927 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 335 We sat on some boards nailed on the front bob of his old bobsled. 1964 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. Mar. 86/2 Many carriages could have their wheels and sled runners or ‘bobs’ bolted on to replace them in winter. |
e. Abbrev. of bob-sled, -sleigh; also attrib., as bob-run. orig. U.S.
| 1856 M. Y. Jackson Diary 27 Jan. in Minn. Farmers' Diaries (1939) 145 Went to Kinnik-kinnik yesterday with the bobs. Had to stay over night & return to day with part of a load of lumber. 1887 Harper's Mag. Dec. 113/2 The Captain's sleigh went townward toward evening, and the butcher's ‘bob’ tore an ugly groove along the lower edge. 1888 Ibid. May 973/1 Telling the little ones how they might have been mangled by one of the swift ‘bobs’. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 63/2 Bob Woods..Bob Runners..Bob Sleigh gearing..Bob Beams. 1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 13 Jan. 2/3 Robertson's bob crashed with terrific momentum into a horse and cutter. 1906 N.Y. Even. Post 19 May 9 The same spruce and hemlock logs drawn on bobs. 1927 Observer 18 Dec. 9/4 Long and well-made bob-runs. 1963 Times 1 Feb. 4/3 The No. 2 British bob was the first to crash. Ibid. 7 Feb. 3/7 The fastest time ever recorded on the St. Moritz bob run. |
f. In plural form = prec. sense. U.S.
| 1911 S. E. White Bobby Orde (1916) xvii. 194 At last Bobby saw..a magnificent bobs that had not before appeared. Ibid. 195 If the bobs upset, or the horse went too fast. |
† 3. An ornamental pendant; an ear-drop. Obs.
| 1648 Gage West Ind. xii. (1655) 57 Their bare..brests are covered with bobs hanging from their chaines of pearls. 1733 Fielding Quixote in Eng. i. iv, Two bobs that my wife wears in her ears. 1734 Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. I. 432 A green diamond to hang as a bob to her necklace. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iii. i, My cousin Con's necklaces, bobs, and all. |
4. A knot or bunch of hair such as that in which women sometimes do up their back hair; also, a short bunch or tassel-like curl: cf. bob-curl. Hence (b) bob-peruke, -periwig, -wig, a wig having the bottom locks turned up into ‘bobs’ or short curls, as opposed to a ‘full-bottomed wig’; often (c) abbreviated to bob.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. xviii. §118. 463 A Peruque..with a Curled Foretop, and Bobs. This is a kind of Travelling Wig, having the side or bottom locks turned up into Bobs or Knots, tied up with Ribbons. Ibid. A Campaign Wig, hath Knots or Bobs (or a Dildo on each side) with a Curled Forehead. Mod. The old lady has her hair twisted up in a bob. |
| b. 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2076/4 John Rixon..wears a light bob Wigg. 1686 Ibid. No. 2175/4 A light coloured close Coat and a brownish Bob-Periwig. 1688 Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia ii. i. 36 Bob peruke. 1753 Scots Mag. Oct. 490/2, I..procured a brown bob perriwig. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge 12/1 His three-cornered hat and bob-wig. |
| c. 1688 R. Holme Armoury 463 A short Bobb, a Head of Hair, is a Wig that hath short locks, and a hairy Crown. 1704 Steele Lying Lover iv. (1747) 56 What shall I do for Powder for this smart Bob? 1752 Foote Taste i. i. 17 Let your Bob be bushy, and your Bow low. 1815 M. Edgeworth Patron. (1832) I. xx. 339 A decent powdered doctor's bob. |
5. a. A horse's tail docked short; a short knob-like tail.
| 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4934/4 A high bob unusual in Horses. 1721 Dudley Moose-Deer in Phil. Trans. XXXI. 166 He has a very short Bob for a Tail. |
b. A style of cutting women's hair short and even all round. (See bob v.5 2.) Also, hair cut in this way.
| 1926 Galsworthy Silver Spoon iii. xi. 312 Her hair, again in its more natural ‘bob’, gleamed lustrously under the light. 1940 M. Dickens Mariana v. 141 ‘Haven't you cut it rather short?’..‘Oh no, 's a lovely bob.’ |
6. A knob, knot, or bunch of coloured yarn, ribbons or the like; a weight on the tail of a kite.
| 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy III. xxix. 142 An old..chair..fringed around with..worsted bobs. 1837 Hogg Ettrick Sheph. T. III. 265 Capering with her bobbs of crimson ribbons. 1849 Lowell Biglow P. Wks. (1879) 165 To delay attaching the bobs until the second attempt at flying the kite. 1861 Ramsay Remin. ii. 121 A broad Scottish blue bonnet, with a red ‘bob’ on the top. |
7. A bunch of lob-worms threaded on pieces of worsted, somewhat like a small mop, used to catch eels. Called in East Anglia a bab or clod. Also U.S. (See quot. 1883.) Cf. bobbing vbl. n.1 3.
| 1660 Hexham Du. Dict., Peuren, to take Eeles in the night with a bob of wormes. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 260 When you perceive by moving of your Bob, that the Eels do tug at it. 1874 A. Bathgate Colonial Experiences xvii. 243 The eels bolt the ‘bob’, and are readily pulled out of the water, the same bait serving again and again. 1882 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 99 It is only occasionally it takes the ‘bab’, the bunch of worms strung on worsted with which the eel-babber works. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxi. (1884) 243 The babber sits in his boat through the night, with a short rod in each hand, and every now and then lifts the bab a little. 1883 Century Mag. July 383/1 The ‘bob’, which is formed by tying three hooks together, back to back, and covering their shanks with a portion of a deer's tail. |
8. A small roundish or knob-like body: † a. A seed vessel of flax or other plants (obs.). b. A lump or nodule of clay used by potters.
| 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. v. (1668) 132 The round bells or bobs which contain the seed [of flax]. 1679 Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 124 Pieces of clay called Bobbs for the ware to stand on, to keep it from sticking to the Shragers. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Hemp, Breaking off from the stalks, the round bells or Bobbs that contain the seed. 1866 Howells Venet. Life iii. 35 A small pot of glazed earthen-ware having an earthen bob. |
† 9. An insect: a. The grub or larva of a beetle used as bait for fish. b. A beetle: chiefly in comb., as black-bob, blind-bob (also fig.). Obs. or dial.
| 1589 Pasquil's Ret. D iiij, It is neither losse of liuing nor life, nor so blind a bob as Blind Asse, that will scare a Caualiero. a 1613 J. Dennys Angling in Arb. Garner I. 176 Yellow bobs turned up before the plough are chiefest baits. 1653 Walton Angler 62 A Bob which you will find [under cow-dung]..and in time will be a beetle. 1713 Lond. & Country Brew. iv. (1743) 259 A further Account of the Wevil..At Winchester, they call this Insect, Pope, Black-bob, or Creeper. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 19 Bobs..are worms as big as two maggots, have red heads. 1790 G. White Selborne (Blatta orientalis), Her house was overrun with a kind of black beetle, or as she expressed herself with a kind of black-bob [cockroach]. 1792 Osbaldistone Brit. Sportsm. 662 All sorts of worms are better for being kept, except earth-bobs. |
10. Comb., as bob-curl, ? a short curl like a tassel; bob-jerom, a bobwig; bob-pendulum, -balance, a pendulum or balance with a bob or bobs; bob-periwig, -peruke, -wig: see 4. See also bob-tail.
| 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2017/8 A large Gold Watch..with a Steel Chain and a Bob Pendulum. 1701 Ibid. No. 3710/4 Stolen..2 Silver Minute bob Pendulum Watches. 1701 Ibid. No. 3717/4 Lost..a Silver Pendulum Minute Watch..with a Bob Ballance. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia ix. i. (D.) To suppose a young lady of fortune would marry a man with a bob jerom. 1867 R. Broughton Cometh up as Flower xi. 106 Mamma in a sad coloured gown, with bob curls. |
II. 11. a. The refrain or burden of a song (? as if a pendant to each stanza). to bear a bob: to take up the refrain, join in the chorus.
| 1606 Choice, Chance, etc. (1881) 69 Can beare the Bob, while other play and sing. 1692 Lestrange Fables 283 (1708) I. 299 To Bed, to Bed will be the Bob of the Song. 1752 Fielding Amelia Wks. 1775 XI. 121 We'll sing it next Sunday at St. James's Church, and I'll bear a bob. 1788 Lond. Mag. 398 The real ass..bore a-bob in the chorus. |
b. (In modern writers) The short line (often of 2 syllables only) at the end of the stanza in some old forms of versification; sometimes it introduces riming lines in a distinct measure, called the wheel.
| 1838 Guest Eng. Rhythms (1882) 573 The bob is a very short and abrupt wheel or burthen. Ibid. 620 Of all the wheels known to our language, the most important are those fashioned on the bob, that is on the short and abrupt wheel, which came into fashion during the 12th and 13th centuries. Ibid. 621 The simplest kind of bob-wheel consists of the bob, and a long verse following, and riming with it. 1842 Robson Three Metr. Romances Introd. 19. |
▪ II. † bob, n.2 Obs.
[f. bob v.1, to befool, cheat, make sport of; possibly a. OF. bobe deception, mocking (faire la bobe = faire la moue, Godef.), f. OF. bober, the source of bob v.1]
A trick, deception, befoolment. to give (any one) the bob: to mock, make a fool of, impose upon.
| a 1528 Skelton Image Hypocr. iv. Wks. II. 444 To blinde us by bobbes. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 14 The vile boy hath manie bobbes, and a whole fardle of fallacies. 1589 Greene Menaph. (Arb.) 85 He smiled in his sleeve to see howe kindely hee had given her the bobbe. 1682 New News fr. Bedlam 39 When the Pope and his Party shall give him the bobb. |
2. This runs together with the fig. use of bob n.3 in the sense of ‘taunt, bitter jest, scoff’.
▪ III. bob, n.3
(bɒb)
[f. bob v.2]
† 1. A blow with the fist; a firm rap. dry bob: a blow that does not break the skin. Obs.
| 1571 R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 47 So cruellie threatened, yea presentlie some tymes with pinches, nippes, and bobbes, and other waies. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 21 Giue thee as many bobs on the eare, as thou hast eaten morsels. a 1604 Churchyard in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. III. 437 They feel fowl bobs that for their bucklars strives. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 711 Give him many a drie bob. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1856) I. 261 They..then gave Him a bob blindfold. 1721 Cibber Rival Fools iii. ad fin., I only find Bobs, Blows and Noise In my poor Wooing. |
† 2. fig. A ‘rap’ with the tongue, a sharp rebuke, a ‘rap over the knuckles’; often (by uniting with the sense of bob n.2), a taunt, bitter jest or jibe, scoff. (Also dry bob as in 1.) Obs.
| 1571 Damon & P. in Dodsley (1874) IV. 81 You are like to bear the bob, for we will give it. 1580 Lodge Answ. Gosson 19 Here is the greatest bob I can gather out of your booke. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 55 Hee, that a Foole doth very wisely hit, Doth very foolishly, although he smart, Seeme senselesse of the bob. 1606 Sir G. Goosecappe v. i. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 75 Marry him, sweet Lady, to answere his bitter bob. 1611 Cotgr., Ruade seiche, a drie bob, jeast, or nip. 1709 Rambl. Fuddle-Cups 7 Keep your Flirts to your self, and your merry dry Bobs. 1731 Bailey, Dry Bob, a Taunt or Scoff. a 1734 North Exam. ii. v. ¶164 So here is a Bob for the Court, and they deserve it. |
3. A light or elastic blow as with anything rebounding; a tap. (Influenced by next word.)
| 1611 Cotgr., Mantonniere, a chocke, or bob vnder the chinne. |
¶ Hence perh. blind-bob, an old name of blind-man's-buff: cf. bob v.1 3.
| 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. s.v. Myinda, Bond-man-blind, blind-bob. |
▪ IV. bob, n.4
(bɒb)
[f. bob v.3]
1. An act of bobbing, or suddenly jerking up and down; a light rebounding movement.
2. A Scotch name applied to some dances.
| c 1550 Wedderburn Godly Ballates, Popische Mes, Dustifit and Bob-at-evin Do sa incres. 1727 Ramsay Wks. II. 252 If ye'll go dance the Bob of Dunblane. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xl. |
3. A curtsy.
| 1825 Bro. Jonathan I. 138 With a bow, or a bob. Mod. The village girls made a ‘charity bob’ as they passed. |
▪ V. bob, n.5 Bell-ringing.
(bɒb)
[perh. connected with bob n.4]
‘A term used by change-ringers to denote certain changes in the working of the methods by which long peals of changes are produced.’ treble bob is a method in which the bells, and more especially the ‘Treble’, have a dodging course. A bob minor is rung upon 6 bells, a bob triple upon 7, a bob major upon 8, a bob royal upon 10, a bob maximus upon 12. (Grove Dict. Music s.v. Change.)
| 1671 Tintinnalogia Pref. Verses (title) Upon the Presentation of Grandsire Bob To the Colledge-youths By the Author of that Peal. Ibid. 102. 1677 F. S[tedman] Campanologia 82 Upon six bells there are also single and double Courses, viz. twelve changes in every single Course, as in Grandsire Bob, etc. and twenty four changes in every double Course, as in Colledg Bob, etc. 1702 Campanologia Impr. 26 The word Extream we must confess is the most proper Signification, in regard to the Change, but there is now and for some time has been a word call'd Bob, instead of Extream, upon what account the word was chang'd, we know not. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 197 A great hand at ringing bob-majors. 1822 Byron Juan vii. lxxxv, The next shall ring a peal to shake all people, Like a bob-major from a village steeple. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. vi. iii. 336 A distracted empty-sounding world; of bob-minors and bob-majors, of triumph and terror. 1872 Ellacombe Bells of Ch. iii. 43 Perhaps the most remarkable is one of 12,000 Treble bob royal which was rung in 1784. |
Hence bob-ˈmajoring. nonce-wd.
| 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1873) V. 139 Huge huzzahing, herald-trumpeting, bob-majoring bursts forth from all Prussian towns. |
▪ VI. bob, n.6
(bɒb)
An apparatus for polishing silver, plated goods, or other burnished metal surfaces, consisting of a disc or discs of leather or cloth, or a wooden disc with a tuyère of buff leather, revolving rapidly on a spindle, and used with or without emery-powder, sand, etc., according to the class of work in hand.
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 414/1 They will first be ‘bobbed’..the finishing ‘bobs’ are made of a number of loose discs of cloth placed close together and threaded on the spindle like an old fashioned mop, the spoon is pressed against the soft pad, dressed with grease and fine powder. 1881 Greener Gun 252 The bobs and laps should be driven by steam power, as is the case in Birmingham. |
▪ VII. bob, n.8 slang.
(bɒb)
[Origin unknown; in OF. bobe was a coin, apparently about 1½ pence (deniers) of the 14th c.: see Godef. But its survival in English slang is very unlikely.]
1. A shilling.
| 1789 Sessions' Papers June 550/1 Bulls and half bulls are crowns and half crowns, in coiner's language, and a bob is a shilling. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Bob, or Bobstick, a shilling. 1837 Dickens Pickw. (1847) 351/2 Will you take three bob? 1840 T. Hook Fitzherbert II. vi. 150, I haven't a bob to pay for the hire of these skates. 1864 Athenæum 558/3 ‘Bob’ is thought to have first distinguished the shilling in Sir Robert Walpole's time. 1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship iv. 73 Have I got time to borrow five bob from the messman before the boat shoves off? |
2. Phrases. bob a job: the slogan of the Boy Scout organization in an annual effort to raise money for funds by doing jobs, orig. at a shilling a time; also (with hyphens) as attrib. phr.; bob a nob [nob n.2] colloq.: a payment of a shilling a head; also attrib.; bob in (Austral. and N.Z. colloq.): a subscription of a shilling to a common fund.
| 1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Dict. 13 A bob a nob, a shilling a head. 1851 Mayhew London Lab. I. 313/2 These he would engage at ‘a bob a nob’ (one shilling each). 1889 W. Davidson Stories N.Z. Life 5 From tricks at cards, the fun changed to ‘a bob in’ the winner shouting. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 28 June 36/3 What say we rig a few bob-ins for the poor cow? 1944 Times 19 May 2/3 Among the younger boys the effort is already known as the ‘Bob-a-Job’ or ‘Bob-a-Nob’ Day. 1945 Baker Austral. Lang. ix. 172 Just as the shout is an institution in this part of the world so are the bob in, two bob in, [etc.]..all of which concern the creation of a jack-pot, usually with the object of buying drinks. 1954 ‘N. Blake’ Whisper in Gloom i. iii. 41 Clean your car, sir? Bob a job. Kensington Scouts. 1958 ‘R. Crompton’ William's Telev. Show vi. 162 William took his ‘Bob-a-Job’ book from his pocket and studied it complacently. 1959 Daily Tel. 28 July 12/4 A shilling-a-head subscription, popularly known as the ‘bob-a-nob’, for some form of testimonial was launched to-day. 1966 J. Hackston Father clears Out 113 The Red Range Federal Capital Site Committee (bob in and the winner shout) met on a Sunday. |
▪ VIII. bob, n.9
var. of bub, Obs., storm, gust.
▪ IX. bob, n.10
(bɒb)
Altered form of god, used in oaths and exclamatory phrases.
| 1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Dict. 13 ‘So help me bob,’ is an oath to deceive the hearer, doubly; for a bob is but a shilling, and not a fit thing to swear by. 1842 [see s'elp]. 1905 W. Raleigh Let. 17 Nov. (1926) II. 284 It's all very well Jesus Christ being imagination, but when it comes to nothing but menageries of howling giants—s'welp me Bob! I can't show it up, I don't know enough. |
▪ X. bob, a.
[In sense app. due to taking bob in bobtail as an adj.: cf. bobbish.]
1. Cut short (as a horse's tail); bobbed.
| 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4571/4 A Mare..with a grisled Mane and Tail full bob. |
2. slang. ? Lively, ‘nice’. Cf. bobbish.
| 1721 Cibber Refusal i. sp. 109 Yesterday, at Marybone, they had me all Bob as a Robin. 1864 C. M. Yonge Trial I. 113 ‘That's a nice girl’..‘Bobber than bobtail’. |
▪ XI. † bob, v.1 Obs.
[ME. bobben, 14th c., a. OF. bobe-r to befool, mock, deceive; cf. Sp. bobo fool.]
1. trans. To make a fool of, deceive, cheat.
| c 1320 Seuyn Sages (W.) 2246 Tha bobbed the pie bi night. c 1380 Wyclif Dominion Wks. (1880) 291 Þe fend may hide mennes wittis & bobbe hem in here resoun. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 261 Bete and eek bobbid by fals illusioun. 1567 Turberv. Pretie Epigr. (R.) To play her prancks, and bob the foole the shrowish wife begon. 1612 Pasquil's Night-Cap (1877) 70 I'le not be bob'd with such a slight excuse. a 1716 South 12 Serm. III. 100 The Devil stands Bobbing and Tantalizing Men's Gaping hopes with Some Preferment in Church, or State. 1725 Swift Wood's Petit. Wks. 1755 IV. i. 285 And so you may daintily bob him. |
b. to bob of, bob out of: to cheat (out) of. to bob off: to get rid of by fraud.
| 1605 Tryall Chev. i. i. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 273, I had rather dye in a ditch than be bobd of my fayre Thomasin. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. i. 75 You shall not bob vs out of our melody. a 1652 Brome City Wit iii. iv, If you could bob me off with such payment. 1676 Packet Adv. Men of Shaftesbury 8 Had I been bobb'd out of All. |
c. To take by deception, to filch.
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. i. 16 Gold, and Iewels, that I bob'd from him. |
2. To make sport of, mock, flout. Also intr. with to.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Esdr. i. 51 Thei weren bobbende his profetus. ― Jer. xxxviii. 19 Thei bobbe to me [1388 thei scorn me]. |
3. Comb. † bob-fool, † bob-her, † bob and hit, names of games or forms of diversion; to play bob-fool with, to make a fool of, to befool. (But these may belong to bob v.2)
| 1599 Greene Alphonsus Wks. 1831 II. 49 Do they think to play bobfool with me? 1611 Cotgr., Savate..the play called Bob and Hit, or Hodman Blind. 1631 Celestina xv. 162 Thou hast plai'd bob-foole with mee, by thy vaine and idle offers. 1702 Burlesque of R. Lestrange's Vis. Quevedo 269 Useful and skilful Knight at Bob-her. |
▪ XII. bob, v.2
(bɒb)
[ME. boben, bobben, found in the 13th c.; of uncertain origin; perhaps onomatopœic, expressing the effect of a smart, but not very weighty blow. In its frequent early application to the buffeting of Christ, there may have been association with bob v.1 sense 2.]
† 1. To strike with the fist, to pommel, buffet. Obs.
| c 1280 Fall & Pass. 59 in E.E.P. (1862) 14 He was ibobid an i-smitte . an hi spette in is face. 1432–1450 tr. Higden Rolls Ser. I. 241 [The slave in the triumphal car] scholde bobbe besily the victor. 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 172 Our moost benygne savyour..was bobbed, buffeted and spytte upon. 1531 Elyot Gov. i. vii. (1557) 20 If anye man hapned..to shewe hymselfe to be wery, he was sodeynly bobbed on the face by the seruantes of Nero. 1578 Chr. Prayers in Priv. Prayers (1851) 508 Thou wast..buffeted, blindfolded, bobbed with fists. 1605 R. Armin Foole upon F. (1880) 23 The fellowe..got the fooles head vnder his arme, and bobd his nose. |
† 2. To strike with any thing rounded or knobbed.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7316 With the bit of his blade he bobbit hym so. 1589 Nashe Martins Months M. 2, I haue..bobde them with their own bable. [Still in dialect use.] |
3. To rap or tap with a slight (usually elastic) blow.
| a 1745 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 361 When you carry a glass of liquor to any person..do not bob him on the shoulder. Mod. (Parlour Game) ‘Brother, I am bobbed’. |
4. To cause (anything) to rap or bounce against, at, etc. This sense blends gradually with bob v.3
| 1612 Shelton Quix. I. Pref. 13 There is nothing else to be done, but to bob into it some Latin Sentences. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) V. 377 An unfledged Kite..wanting to swallow a chicken, bobbed at its mouth by its marauding dam. 1840 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 185 Bobbing their cups together, as if they were hob-or-nobbing. Mod. Wasps bobbing their heads against the window pane. |
▪ XIII. bob, v.3
(bɒb)
[Used since the 16th (? 14th) c. Apparently onomatopœic, expressing short jerking or rebounding motion. There is an obvious association with certain senses of bob n.1, esp. those of the ball of a pendulum, plummet, tassel, pendant, all of which ‘bob’ when moved; but it is doubtful whether this is original or subsequent. There is also contact with the senses of bob v.2]
1. intr. To move up and down like a buoyant body in water, or an elastic body on land; hence, to dance; to move to and fro with a similar motion, esp. said of hanging things rebounding from objects lightly struck by them.
| [1386 Chaucer Manciple's Prol. 2 A litel toun, which that ycleped is Bobbe up and down Vnder the Blee in Caunterbury weye.] a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. vi, Platefute he bobit up with bendis, For Mald he made requiest. 1611 Coryat Crudities 64 Many tassels bobbing about. 1623 Cockeram iii, Tantalus..hath Apples bobbing at his nose. 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) II. 271 The fruit was bobbing at his chin. 1794 Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 54 Solid bodies bobbing up and down in a fiery liquid. 1830 Gentl. Mag. Jan. 49/2 With what consummate craft he bobbed in and out, as to office. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) II. 164 A postilion..bobbing up and down on the offhorse. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton ix, A bottle bobbing about in the sea. |
b. to bob for apples, cherries, etc.: to snatch with the mouth at apples, or other fruit, floating on water, or dangling from a string, the fruit in either case generally eluding the mouth of the would-be captor.
| 1823 Lamb Lett. xviii. 175, No. 92 may bob it as she likes but she catches no cherry of me. 1858 Sat. Rev. 31 July 98 Like a schoolboy who fruitlessly bobs in the tub of water after the apple. |
c. to bob on: to await anxiously (the turn of events). slang.
| 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 29 Bobbing on, anticipating or expecting something..with the sense of looking forward to something unpleasant. a 1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) i. xxiv. 85 I'm bobbing on not getting that intelligent job from him. |
2. a. intr. To move up or down with a bob or slight jerk; spec. curtsy. Also, with cognate obj., to bob a curtsy.
| a 1794 Old Song, When she cam ben she bobbit. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair i, Bobbing, and curtseying and smiling. 1873 Black Pr. Thule x. 156 The servant..bobbed a curtsey to her. Mod. He bobbed down, and the stone missed him. The end of the pole bobbed up and struck me. |
b. To come or go in, into, up, etc.
Quot. 1835 may belong to sense 2 a.
| 1835 Dickens in Sk. Boz (1836) ser. i. II. 27 ‘Please, Sir, missis has made tea,’ said a middle-aged female servant, bobbing into the room. 1890 Texas Siftings 8 Nov. 7/1 The straws man bobs up serenely at the regular time every four years. 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey i. viii, Thanks, old man, awfully good of you—will you bob in, then? 1928 Public Opinion 19 Oct. 371/1 Everything but the kitchen stove, as our idiom has it, is likely to bob up for notice. |
c. In phr. to bob and weave, of a boxer: to move the head and body constantly up and down and from side to side as an evasive tactic. Also to weave and bob fig., to move erratically or evasively, to move rapidly and unpredictably in one direction after another.
| 1928 J. O'Brien Boxing vii. 59 The mighty Sullivan might have ruined Corbett, but he couldn't reach or land on the bobbing, weaving, and left-hooking ‘Gentleman Jim’. Ibid. 65 Keep weaving and bobbing at a comfortable pace. 1932 E. Eager Fighting for Fun v. 70 Before me a rhythmic tiger, with human face, was weaving and bobbing. 1950 [see weaver1 2 b]. 1951 Sport 30 Mar.–5 Apr. 11/3 When the bell went Kelly came bobbing and weaving into the centre of the ring. 1956 [see glitterati n. pl.]. 1969 T. Williams My Turn at Bat iii. 151 Nobody will be a greater heavyweight than Joe Louis{ddd}They said, ‘He couldn't take a punch.’..What they didn't say was that he was moving in all the time, not bobbing and weaving and flashing or running around. 1975 Business Week 4 Aug. 12/3 Production bobs and weaves from week to week. 1979 Washington Post 23 Mar. e8/1 He's gotta bob and weave. He's gotta crowd Holmes, throw punches underneath. 1984 S. Naipaul Beyond Dragon's Mouth x. 215 She bobbed and weaved; she brandished her pale arms; she rotated her hips. 1986 Los Angeles Times 6 Oct. iii. 13/3 Red Sox coaches used fungo bats to aim baseballs at the pitcher, forcing him to bob and weave. |
3. trans. To move (a thing) up or down with a bob or slight jerk. Cf. bob v.2 4.
| 1685 Abridgm. Eng. Mil. Discip. 67 Take care not to bob up the Spear of your Pike. 1818 Keats Endym. i. 291 Dolphins bob their noses through the brine. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. iii. (1879) 56 The Carrancha takes little notice, except by bobbing its head. |
4. Comb., as bob-a-cherry transf. attrib. (cf. bob-cherry); bob-apple, a game in which children bob for apples, either floating in water, or suspended; bob-cherry, a game in which the player tries to catch with his teeth a cherry suspended at the end of a string; † bob-chin, one who bobs his chin; bob-fly, in angling, a second artificial fly that bobs on the surface of the water, to indicate the position of the end-fly; bob-up attrib., that bobs up; † bob-wood, a bob or float used with a harpoon.
| 1899 T. S. Moore Vinedresser, etc. 19 ‘Kisses sadly blown across the sea..*Bob-a-cherry kisses 'neath a tree—'O, give me one.’ 1926 Masefield Odtaa ii. 22 They're bobacherry birds. You always see them working their lower jaws as though to get the cherry in. |
| 1681 Reply Mischief of Imposit. 2 To see their Children play at *Bob-apple. 1940 F. Kitchen Brother to Ox i. 15 We children..played snapdragon and bob-apple. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xii. 271 In Liverpool Hallowe'en is known as ‘Duck Apple’..in Pontypool ‘Bob Apple’ or ‘Crab Apple Night’. Ibid. 272 Bob Apple is also known as ‘Snap Apple’ or ‘Apple on the Line’. |
| 1714 Arbuthnot, etc. Martinus Scribl. v. (1756) 24 *Bob-cherry..teaches at once two noble virtues, patience and constancy. 1885 Pall Mall G. 15 July 10 Lord Robert Montagu..described Government, upon the question of Reform, as ‘playing at bob-cherry with the nation’. |
| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair, Keepe it during the Fayre, *Bobchin. |
| 1832 E. Jesse Gleanings Nat. Hist. Ser. i. 300 You can easily find the *bob-fly on the top of the water, and thus be sure that the end-fly is not far off. 1883 Century Mag. 378 He looped on for dropper, or bob-fly, a ‘Lord Baltimore’. |
| 1935 Discovery Jan. 10/1 This type of mechanism has come to be known as the ‘*bob-up’ type. |
| 1697 W. Dampier New Voy. (1699) I. 35 At the other end of his staff [for a Harpoon] there is a light piece of wood called *Bob⁓wood, with a hole in it, through which the small end of the staff comes. |
▪ XIV. bob, v.4
(bɒb)
Also 9 dial. bab.
[f. bob n.1 7.]
intr. To fish (for eels) with a bob. (Hence humorously, ‘to bob for whales’.)
| 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 178 Other wayes..to take Eeles, as..with bobbing for them with great wormes. 1672 Davenant Vac. in Lond. Wks. (1673) 290 All day on Thames to bob for Grig. 1766 H. Walpole Acct. Giants Wks. 1798 II. 94 These giants..seldom come down to the coast; and then I suppose only to bob for whales. 1833 Fraser's Mag. VII. 54 He..bobs and dibbles till he hooks his prey. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads iii. (1884) 22 The eel is the support of numbers of fishermen, who ‘bob’ for it with bundles of worms threaded on worsted. |
b. fig. To seek to capture or obtain by artifice; to ‘fish for’.
| 1672 Davenant Wits Wks. (1673) 183 He lies not there To bob for Griggs, but to bob for the People. 1840 E. Napier Scenes & Sp. For. Lands II. v. 163 Even captains are not catchable every day; she bobs away at them for a couple of years. |
▪ XV. bob, v.5
(bɒb)
[f. bob n.1 (sense 5). Cf. bob a. 1 and bobbed a.]
1. To dock, cut short (a horse's tail, etc.). Also with off. ? U.S.
| 1822 J. Fowler Jrnl. (1898) 112 Two of them [sc. wild horses] must have been in Hands, as their tails were Bobed short. 1889 Cent. Dict., Bob1 v. 2. To cut short; dock: often with off: as, to bob or bob off a horse's tail. |
2. To cut (the hair of a woman or girl) short and even all round.
| 1918 Punch 25 Sept. 193 Alarming spread of bobbing. 1919 Home Notes 8 Feb. 130, I went to a hairdresser's... He bobbed my hair. 1920 R. Macaulay Potterism i. i, When the time came to bob the hair, she bobbed it. 1940 M. Dickens Mariana v. 140, I want to have my hair bobbed, please. |
▪ XVI. bob, v.6
(bɒb)
[f. bob n.6]
trans. To polish (metal) with a bob (see bob n.6).
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 414/1 Our spoons..will be first ‘bobbed’ with fine sand on an ordinary buff-covered polishing wheel. |
▪ XVII. bob, v.7
[See bob n.1 2 e.]
a. trans. To carry on a bob-sleigh. b. intr. To ride on a bob-sleigh.
| 1880 Wisconsin Rep. 254 Injuries suffered..by collision with persons ‘bobbing’ or ‘coasting’ on such street. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Bob, v.t. To transport (a load, as of logs) on a bob or sled. |
▪ XVIII. bob, adv.
(bɒb)
The verb stem of bob v.2 or v.3, used to denote sudden action.
| 1673 Marvell Reh. Transp. II. 253 Turne but over the Leaf and you meet full bob; ‘Reverendissimo in Christo Patri et Domino.’ 1872 Baker Nile Tribut. ii. 32 Bob! and away it went. |