# bob

Pronunciation: say "BOB" US /bɑb/, UK /bɒb/

## Verb

1. To move, or make something such as the head move, quickly and gently up and down, the way a floating object moves on water.
   - Simple: To move quickly and gently up and down, like something floating on water, or to move your head this way.
   - _Fishing boats bob at their moorings as the tide comes in._
   - _A seal's head bobbed up beside the kayak and then vanished._
4. To cut hair into a bob, a short style of even length all around the head.
   - Simple: To cut someone's hair short so it is the same length all around.
   - _She bobbed her hair the summer before college and never grew it out again._
   - _I'm asking the stylist to bob my hair just below the ears._
5. Followed by for: to try, as a party game, to seize apples that float in water or dangle from strings, using the teeth alone.
   - Simple: To try to catch apples in water or on strings with only your teeth, as a party game.
   - _Nobody else wanted to bob for apples after the first guest came up soaked and shivering._
   - _The children bobbed for apples dangling on strings tied to the porch rail._
8. To shorten something by cutting a part of it away.
   - Simple: To cut off part of something to make it shorter.
   - _Some breeders still bob their puppies' tails, although many vets refuse to do it._
   - _The groom bobbed the pony's tail short before the show._
10. To perform oral sex on a partner; used with on. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To give oral sex to someone, used with on.
   - _He asked her to bob on him, and she laughed and told him to wait._
   - _She bobbed on her boyfriend in the back seat after the party._
11. To hit someone or something with a quick, light blow.
   - Simple: To hit someone or something quickly and lightly.
   - _Whenever he dozed off in the meeting, a colleague bobbed him on the shoulder._
   - _The cat likes to bob the puppy on the nose with one paw._
13. To curtsy, bending the knees briefly as a gesture of respect.
   - Simple: To do a curtsy, bending the knees a little to show respect.
   - _The young ballet students bob to their teacher at the end of every class._
   - _She bobbed a quick curtsy to the duchess and stepped aside._

## Noun

2. A short haircut in which the hair is cut straight and evenly all around, usually at about jaw length.
   - Simple: A short haircut where the hair is cut the same length all around the head.
   - _She walked into the salon with waist-length hair and walked out with a sleek bob._
   - _Her chin-length bob needs a trim every six weeks to keep its shape._
3. A quick movement up and down, such as a brief dip of the head.
   - Simple: A quick move up and down, like a small nod of the head.
   - _The waiter acknowledged us with a bob of his head and hurried off._
   - _The boxer slipped the jab with a quick bob and came back with a hook._
6. A weight or small round object that hangs from a cord, rod or wire so that it can swing, such as the weight at the end of a pendulum or plumb line.
   - Simple: A weight or small round thing hanging from a string or rod so it can swing, like a clock's pendulum weight.
   - _The clockmaker raised the bob slightly to make the pendulum swing faster._
   - _The carpenter let the plumb line hang until its brass bob settled, then marked the post._
7. A racing sled ridden down a curving track of ice, usually by a team of two or four; a bobsled.
   - Simple: A long sled that a team, or sometimes one person, rides down an icy track in races.
   - _The four-man bob crossed the line a tenth of a second ahead of its rivals._
   - _Athletes sprint beside the bob for the first fifty meters before jumping in._
9. A horse's tail that has been cut short by docking.
   - Simple: A horse's tail after it has been cut short.
   - _Flies plagued the mare all summer, and her stubby bob could do little to swat them._
   - _The carriage horses had their bobs neatly trimmed for the parade._
12. A blow or rap, such as one given with the fist, or a shake or jog.
   - Simple: A hit, like one with the fist, or a shake or push.
   - _The old sailor gave the boy a friendly bob on the ear._
   - _Grandma used to give any child who grabbed at the cookies a quick bob on the knuckles._
14. A curtsy; a brief bending of the knees made as a sign of respect.
   - Simple: A curtsy, made by bending the knees to show respect.
   - _Holding out the sides of her dress, the flower girl gave the bride a little bob._
   - _After her solo, the young dancer made a neat bob to the judges._
15. An amount of money, without saying exactly how much. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Some money, when you do not say exactly how much.
   - _I could lend you a few bob until you get paid on Friday._
   - _That old guitar of his must be worth a few bob by now._
19. A short line at the end of a stanza in a poem.
   - Simple: A short line at the end of one part of a poem.
   - _The poet closes every stanza with a terse bob that lands like a punchline._
   - _Students scanning the poem found that each bob had only two syllables._

## Noun

16. A shilling, as a coin or a sum of money. *(dated, Australia, Kenya, UK)*
   - Simple: One shilling, as a coin or an amount of money.
   - _His gran used to give him a bob for running to the shop for her._
   - _The matatu conductor wanted a hundred bob for the ride into town._
17. In decimal money, a 10-cent coin, the coin that took the place of the shilling and had the same value. *(dated, Australia)*
   - Simple: A coin worth ten cents.
   - _All she found in her purse was a bob and two five-cent pieces._
   - _He swapped his bob and two twenty-cent coins for a milkshake at the milk bar._
18. A short wig of the kind called a bob wig, or hair forming a small knot or a short curl. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A small knot or short curl of hair, or a kind of short wig.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A buoyant float attached to a fishing line; a bobber.
- (verb) To ride in a bobsled.
- (noun) A short runner on a sled, one of the strips it slides on.
- (noun) Clipping of shishkabob.
- (noun) In change ringing, a particular way of ringing the changes on a set of bells.
- (noun) Any of various butterflies of the skipper family, Hesperiidae.
- (noun) A small leather wheel with rounded edges, used for polishing spoons and similar objects.
- (noun) In a steam engine, the working beam, which rocks back and forth as the engine runs.
- (noun) A graphical object like a hardware sprite, drawn by blitting so that large numbers of them can be moved around the screen.
- (verb) To catch eels using a bunch of worms threaded on a string.
- (noun) A chorus or line that comes back again and again in a song.
- (noun) A cutting remark or mocking joke aimed at someone.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3, 5, 10–11, 13–14** — Middle English bobben ("to strike; to move up and down or to and fro") is the source, though where that word came from is not known. Similar words are Dutch dobberen ("bobbing"), Swedish bobba ("to bob"), Icelandic boppa ("to wave up and down") and Scots bob ("to dance with a bobbing motion").
**Meanings 2, 4, 6–9, 12, 18–19** — The word may be Celtic, since Irish has baban ("tassel, cluster") and Gaelic has babag; English got it as Middle English bobbe, which meant "a cluster of fruit; a twig with its leaves, a spray."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bob (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).