▪ I. fob, n.1
(fɒb)
[Of obscure origin. Cf. fob v.1
Can it be a corruption of OF. forbe (mod. fourbe) masc. rogue, fem. cunning trick? But this suggestion does not explain the apparent connexion of fob n. and v. with fop n. and v., and Ger. foppen.]
† 1. A cheat, impostor. Obs. rare—1.
The association with faitour seems to require this active sense rather than the passive one of ‘dupe, fool’ (= 15th c. sense of fop). Cf. Ger. slang fopper, in 16th c. a malingerer esp. one who counterfeits madness (see Kluge Etym. Wb. ed. 5), which is much the sense of faitour.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 193 Makeþ of lyer a lang cart to lede alle þese oþere, As fobbes and faitours. |
2. A trick, an artifice. Now only slang, to come the fob on (U.S.): to impose upon, cheat, trick.
| 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 243 Many men would deale more honestly..if these fobs and giggs were not put into their heads by others. 1654 tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 49 Such fobbs and cheats are more tollerable..in persons of mean fortunes. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Fob, a cheat, trick. 1852 Judson Myst. N. York i. vii. 62 ‘He come ze fob on some of ze nobilitie.’ |
3. Comb.: † fob-action, a sham action (at law).
| 1673 F. Kirkman Unlucky Cit. 203 They should then arrest you in a Fobb-action at his Suit. 1697 Luttrell Brief. Rel. (1857) IV. 257 Endeavouring to steal a young lady..by the help of bailifs, who arrested her..in a fob action. 1730–6 Bailey (folio) s.v., A Fob (or sham) action. |
▪ II. fob, n.2
(fɒb)
Also 7, 9 Sc. fab, 8 fobb.
[of unknown origin; cf. HG. dial. fuppe pocket, fuppen, einfuppen to pocket stealthily; a Ger. word fupsack is cited by Skinner.
If the word meant originally a secret pocket, it may be connected with fob v.]
1. A small pocket formerly made in the waistband of the breeches and used for carrying a watch, money, or other valuables.
| 1653 Brome Crt. Beggar ii. i. Wks. 1873 I. i. 212 My Fob has been fubd to day of six pieces. 1667 St. Papers, Dom. CXCI. No. 63. ii, The right side pockett..and the small pockett or fobb. 1711 Addison Spectator No. 77 ¶1, I saw him..squirt away his watch..into the Thames, and put up the Pebble, he had before found, in his Fob. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) iii. lxxxiii. 294 The..young gentleman, with an hand in each fob, stood whistling an opera-tune. 1819 Moore Tom Crib's Mem. 6 Whether diddling your subjects, and gutting their fobs. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. iii, Mr. Nickleby replaced his watch in his fob. |
b. nonce-use. The contents of the fob, ‘cash’.
| ? c 1680 Royal Resolutions in Marvell's Wks. (Grosart) I. 431 When plate was at pawn, and fob at an ebb. |
2. U.S. = fob-chain.
| 1889 M Hatton-Ripley From Flag to Flag xxiv. 211 The tempting fob that hung from his pocket. 1893 Farmer Slang, Fob..a watch chain or ribbon, with buckle and seals, worn hanging from the fob. |
3. A trimming resembling a fob-chain.
| 1894 Daily News 22 June 6/6 Skirt trimmed on the hips with fobs of bright rose-pink velvet, two on either side. |
4. attrib., as fob-pocket, fob-watch; fob-chain, the chain attached to a watch carried in the fob.
| 1885 H. C. McCook Tenants Old Farm 121 Beneath it [his waistcoat] a goodly *fobchain protrudes. |
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxviii, With..a gold watch in his *fob pocket. |
| 1884 S. Dowell Tax. in Eng. III. iii. iii. §11 (1888) 273 A *fob watch is in existence that belonged to Oliver Cromwell. |
▪ III. fob, n.3
(fɒb)
a. Froth, foam; dial. b. dial. (See quot. 1890.)
| 1838 in Holloway Provinc. 1886 in Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. 1890 Gloucestersh. Gloss., Fob, a little bunch or tuft, as of wool, etc. |
c. Soap-making. The scum or froth which rises to the top of the semi-liquid soap during a certain process of manufacture.
| 1857 W. Miller Elem. Chem. III. vi. §1. 373 The fob is skimmed off, and the semi-solid pasty mass of soap is transferred to the frames. 1860 Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 5) III. 714. 1884 A. Watt Soap-Making v. 47 A black foam or ‘fob’ appears on the surface, which only ceases when the materials are completely saturated with alkali. 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. s.v. Fitting, A solid crust or Fob of frothy soap. |
Hence fob v.3, to froth or foam. ˈfobbing vbl. n.
| 1838 Holloway Provinc., Fob, to froth as beer does when poured out quickly. E. Sussex. 1883 Hampsh. Gloss., Fob, to froth as beer. 1898 G. H. Hurst Soaps 229 The material may rise up in the form of froth very considerably, this proceeding being known to soap-makers as fobbing... It is this liability to fob that renders it undesirable that a soap pan should be fully charged to start with. 1938 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) II. 95/2 Some brewers add only a small proportion of the hops as the copper is filling up—they help to prevent ‘fobbing’. |
▪ IV. fob, v.1
(fɒb)
Also 6–7 fub, fobb(e. See also fop v.
[First recorded late in 16th c.; cogn. with or f. fob n.1 1. Cf. Ger. foppen to deceive, befool.]
1. trans. To cheat, deceive, delude, trick, impose upon, ‘take in’; also with up. Also, to fob (a person) of or out of (something). colloq.
| 1583 Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 102, I will not..fobbe you with fayre wordes, and foule deedes. 1593 Tell-Troth's N.Y. Gift 25 He..would fobbe him vppe with a thousand vntruthes. 1647 Cartwright Ordinary iv. iv, I won't be fubb'd, ensure your self. 1731 Fielding Grub St. Op. i. v, While every one else he is fobbing, He still may be honest to me. 1843 Punch V. 152/2 Kings and ministers have fobbed us of our renown. 1854 Ibid. XXVII. 232/1 Noodles who complain..of being fobbed..out of various sums from {pstlg}25 to {pstlg}90. 1861 Standard 4 Nov., They think themselves fobbed by our dextrous policy. |
2. To bring or put into, or bestow upon, by jobbery or trickery; to palm or pass off upon. Also, to get up, procure, or promote by trickery; also with up. to fob in: to introduce in an underhand way. ? Obs.
| 1653 A. Wilson Jas. I 68 Another young Gentlewoman, that had lesse offended, was fobbed into the place. Ibid. 241 These things were fobb'd in by several Popes..to serve their own turns. 1678 R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor. (1702) 522 Here's..the same Thing Fobb'd upon the World over again. 1704 J. Logan in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 311 Which place was..fobbed upon him. 1715 M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 280 That Legendary Triumvirate found ways..to fob into Tinmouth's Gold-finding Legendary their own production of Winefred's Life. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xxxiii. 330 Don't fob upon us your girl with the Pagan name for Lady Jenny. 1792 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ep. to Ld. Macartney Wks. 1812 III. 126 No Janus he, with selfish views to fob. 1805 Morning Chron. 31 Aug. in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1806) IX. 208 So now it was time..To fob up an excuse for my sudden retreat. 1825 Westm. Rev. IV. 401 We find him with much point, pleasantry, and earnestness, fobbing an ale licence. |
3. fob off. a. To put off deceitfully; to attempt to satisfy with an excuse or pretence; to baffle, cajole; to put off (a person) with (something of inferior quality or something less than he has been led to expect).
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 37, I haue..bin fub'd off, and fub'd-off, from this day to that day. 1602 Rowlands Greene's Ghost 8 Fubbing them off with these slender wasted blacke pots. 1650 Cowley Guardian v. vii, I must not be fob'd off thus about my daughter. 1767 B. Thornton tr. Plautus I. 318 The butchers..Will..fob you off With ram for weather mutton. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Row in Omnibus, To exact such a sum For..stalls and pit, And then fob us off with a Fal-de-ral-tit. 1892 Daily News 21 Jan. 5/5 Able-bodied paupers have been fobbed off with..broth ‘no better than hot water’. |
† b. To put or shift off (a thing) by deceit or pretence; to get rid of, or set aside by a trick.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. i. 97 You must not thinke To fobbe off our disgrace with a tale. 1641 Milton Reform. i. (1851) 16 It was not of old that a Conspiracie of Bishops could frustrate and fob off the right of the people. |
c. To palm off upon (a person); cf. 2.
| 1894 Times 25 July 10/1 If a..novel cannot be fobbed off upon the..people of London..it is rusticated. |
Hence ˈfobbing vbl. n.
| a 1619 Beaum. & Fl. Wit at Sev. Weapons iv. i, Now you talk of fobbing, I wonder the Lady sends not for me according to promise? |
▪ V. fob, v.2
(fɒb)
[f. fob n.2]
trans. To put into one's fob, to pocket; also with up.
| 1818 Moore Fudge Fam. Paris vi. 160 The rogue but counts how many guineas He's fobbed. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 35 The sailor..styles them ‘gentlemen’, And fobs his money up. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 4 When the qualm is over [he] quietly fobs the Timepiece. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy iv, The gentlemen in black silk stockings..have been fobbing fees for three weeks. |