n. [ An onomatopoetic word, expressing quick, jerky motion; OE. bob bunch, bobben to strike, mock, deceive. Cf. Prov. Eng. bob, n., a ball, an engine beam, bunch, blast, trick, taunt, scoff; as, a v., to dance, to courtesy, to disappoint, OF. bober to mock. ] 1. Anything that hangs so as to play loosely, or with a short abrupt motion, as at the end of a string; a pendant; as, the bob at the end of a kite's tail. [ 1913 Webster ]

In jewels dressed and at each ear a bob. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A knot of worms, or of rags, on a string, used in angling, as for eels; formerly, a worm suitable for bait. [ 1913 Webster ]

Or yellow bobs, turned up before the plow,
Are chiefest baits, with cork and lead enow. Lauson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A small piece of cork or light wood attached to a fishing line to show when a fish is biting; a float. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The ball or heavy part of a pendulum; also, the ball or weight at the end of a plumb line. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A small wheel, made of leather, with rounded edges, used in polishing spoons, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A short, jerking motion; act of bobbing; as, a bob of the head. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Steam Engine) A working beam. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. A knot or short curl of hair; also, a bob wig. [ 1913 Webster ]

A plain brown bob he wore. Shenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A peculiar mode of ringing changes on bells. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. The refrain of a song. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bed, to bed, will be the bob of the song. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A blow; a shake or jog; a rap, as with the fist. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. A jeer or flout; a sharp jest or taunt; a trick. [ 1913 Webster ]

He that a fool doth very wisely hit,
Doth very foolishly, although he smart,
Not to seem senseless of the bob. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. A shilling. [ Slang, Eng. ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To have a short, jerking motion; to play to and fro, or up and down; to play loosely against anything. “Bobbing and courtesying.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To angle with a bob. See Bob, n., 2 & 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

He ne'er had learned the art to bob
For anything but eels. Saxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bob at an apple,
cherry, etc. to attempt to bite or seize with the mouth an apple, cherry, or other round fruit, while it is swinging from a string or floating in a tug of water. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bobbed p. pr. & vb. n. Bobbing. ] [ OE. bobben. See Bob, n. ] 1. To cause to move in a short, jerking manner; to move (a thing) with a bob. “He bobbed his head.” W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To strike with a quick, light blow; to tap. [ 1913 Webster ]

If any man happened by long sitting to sleep . . . he was suddenly bobbed on the face by the servants. Elyot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cheat; to gain by fraud or cheating; to filch. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gold and jewels that I bobbed from him. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To mock or delude; to cheat. [ 1913 Webster ]

To play her pranks, and bob the fool,
The shrewish wife began. Turbervile. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To cut short; as, to bob the hair, or a horse's tail. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zool.) The Poland marmot (Arctomys bobac). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. bobance, F. bombance, boasting, pageantry, fr. L. bombus a humming, buzzing. ] A boasting. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, bobs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. an Anglo-Indian form of Hindi bāp re O thou father! (a very disrespectful address). ] A squabble; a tumult; a commotion; a noisy disturbance; as, to raise a bobbery. [ Low ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bobine; of uncertain origin; cf. L. bombus a humming, from the noise it makes, or Ir. & Gael. baban tassel, or E. bob. ] 1. A small pin, or cylinder, formerly of bone, now most commonly of wood, used in the making of pillow lace. Each thread is wound on a separate bobbin which hangs down holding the thread at a slight tension. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A spool or reel of various material and construction, with a head at one or both ends, and sometimes with a hole bored through its length by which it may be placed on a spindle or pivot. It is used to hold yarn or thread, as in spinning or warping machines, looms, sewing machines, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The little rounded piece of wood, at the end of a latch string, which is pulled to raise the latch. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Haberdashery) A fine cord or narrow braid. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Elec.) A cylindrical or spool-shaped coil or insulated wire, usually containing a core of soft iron which becomes magnetic when the wire is traversed by an electrical current. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bobbin and fly frame, a roving machine. --
Bobbin lace, lace made on a pillow with bobbins; pillow lace. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bobbin + net. ] A kind of cotton lace which is wrought by machines, and not by hand. [ Sometimes written bobbin net. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The English machine-made net is now confined to point net, warp net, and bobbin net, so called from the peculiar construction of the machines by which they are produced. Tomlinsom. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Work woven with bobbins. [ 1913 Webster ]