# mob

Pronunciation: say "MOB" US /mɑb/, UK /mɒb/

## Noun

1. A crowd of people that is large or unruly, especially one intent on rioting or causing destruction.
   - Simple: A large, angry crowd of people, often ready to cause trouble or damage.
   - _The mob surged toward the palace gates, shouting for the king to appear._
   - _Police struggled to hold back the mob as it pushed through the barriers._
2. A syndicate of professional criminals, such as the Mafia, that runs organized crime.
   - Simple: A group of criminals who work together in organized crime.
   - _Federal agents spent years building a case against the mob._
   - _She wrote a book about how the mob infiltrated local unions._
5. A group of grazing animals, such as horses or cattle, moving or kept together.
   - Simple: A group of animals, such as horses or cattle, kept or moving together.
   - _The drovers guided the mob across miles of open country._
   - _A restless mob of cattle milled around the watering hole._
6. A computer-controlled character in a video game, especially one that exists to be fought or killed to advance the game.
   - Simple: In video games, an enemy character that players fight or kill to move forward.
   - _The dungeon was packed with mobs guarding the treasure._
   - _Players must clear every mob before the boss appears._
7. A group of kangaroos living or moving together.
   - Simple: A group of kangaroos moving or feeding together.
   - _A mob of kangaroos grazed near the highway at sunrise._
   - _The ranger counted more than forty animals in a single mob._
8. In Aboriginal Australian usage, a group of people connected through an extended family, clan, or wider community, and associated with a particular place or country.
   - Simple: Among Aboriginal Australians, a group of people from one family, clan, or community connected to a particular place.
   - _The elder spoke on behalf of his mob during the land negotiations._
   - _Many in her mob still gather for ceremonies on their traditional country._
9. Abbreviation of mobile phone. British, informal. — Abbreviation of mobile phone.
   - Simple: Short form of mobile phone. Used mainly in Britain, in casual talk and texting.
   - _She texted from her mob during the break._
   - _My mob ran out of battery halfway through the trip._
10. A group of emus living or traveling together.
   - Simple: A group of emus moving or feeding together.
   - _A mob of emus raced alongside the truck for a while._
   - _The drought scattered the local mob of emus across the plain._
11. A loose, frilled cloth cap with a gathered crown, worn indoors by women, chiefly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
   - Simple: A soft, round cloth cap with a frill, worn indoors by women in the past.
   - _She pinned a lace-trimmed mob over her curls before greeting the guests._
   - _In the portrait, the old woman wears a starched white mob._
13. Chiefly in Japanese media such as anime and manga, any background character in a story, as distinct from the main cast.
   - Simple: Mostly in Japanese anime and manga, any person in the background of a story, not a main character.
   - _Every mob in the anime's classroom scene was drawn with minimal detail._
   - _In the manga's later chapters, even the mobs standing behind the leads were given distinct faces._

## Verb

3. To gather in a crowd around someone, sometimes pressing in with hostility.
   - Simple: To gather closely around someone, sometimes in an angry or pushy way.
   - _Protesters mobbed the official as he tried to reach his car._
   - _Excited supporters mob the players whenever the team wins at home._
4. To crowd into or around a place, packing it with people.
   - Simple: To fill or crowd into a place in large numbers.
   - _Crowds mobbed the stadium hours before kickoff._
   - _Bargain hunters mob the markets during the holiday rush._
15. To wrap someone up in a cowl, or to cover them with one.
   - Simple: To wrap someone up in a hood, or cover them with one.
   - _Travelers crossing the pass mob themselves in heavy cowls against the wind._
   - _Before carrying the sleeping child outside, he mobbed her in the cowl of his own cloak._

## Noun

12. The common people of a society, especially the lower classes; the rabble. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The ordinary, poorer people of a society, looked down on by those with power.
   - _The pamphlet warned that power should never be handed to the mob._
   - _Aristocrats dismissed the opinions of the mob as worthless._
14. A prostitute or a woman disparaged as sexually promiscuous or immoral. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A prostitute, or an insulting old word for a woman seen as immoral.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 7–8, 10, 12** — From Middle English 'mob', a shortening of 'mobile', from Latin 'mōbile (vulgus)' meaning 'fickle crowd'. The video-gaming sense comes from English 'mobile', used by Richard Bartle for objects capable of movement in an early MUD.
**Meanings 11, 14–15** — An alteration of 'mab'.
**Meanings 6, 9, 13** — An abbreviation of 'mobile'.

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