mobs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of mob.

   Rival mobs clashed in the square as the rally turned violent.

   Several mobs gathered outside the courthouse demanding answers.

   Note

   Every kind of mob can be counted, so the plural reaches well past rioting crowds. Rival mobs may clash in a square, but mobs of horses or cattle also move across open country, and the same collective noun names groups of kangaroos and flocks of emus. The organized-crime sense takes the plural too, for separate criminal groups.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of mob.

   Whenever he scores, the whole team mobs him on the field.

   The press mobs the actor the moment he steps off the plane.

   Note

   A verb that always takes an object: someone mobs a person or a place. The crowding can be joyful or hostile. Teammates mob a scorer, and reporters mob an arrival. The same spelling also serves an unrelated verb meaning to wrap in a cowl, and it doubles as the plural noun, so context shows whether a crowd is acting or being counted.

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