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. 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 ]

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 ]

‖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 ]

a. Hearty; in good spirits. [ Low, Eng. ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A nickname for a British policeman; -- from Sir Robert Peel, who remodeled the police force. See Peeler. [ Slang, Eng. ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as bobbysoxer.
Syn. -- bobbysoxer. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a sock that reaches just above the ankle.
Syn. -- anklet, anklets, bobbysock. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. an adolescent girl wearing bobby socks (common in the 1940s); -- sometimes used for any adolescent girl, especially one following the latest youthful fashion .
Syn. -- bobbysocker. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. 1. small lynx (Lynx rufus) of North America.
Syn. -- bay lynx. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A play among children, in which a cherry, hung so as to bob against the mouth, is to be caught with the teeth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a small float usually made of cork; attached to a fishing line.
Syn. -- bob, bobber, cork. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Fishing) The fly at the end of the leader; an end fly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An American singing bird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). The male is black and white; the female is brown; -- called also, ricebird, reedbird, and Boblincoln. [ 1913 Webster ]

The happiest bird of our spring is the bobolink. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. 1. A short sled, mostly used as one of a pair connected by a reach or coupling; also, the compound sled so formed. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The long wagon body set on bobsleds. W. D. Howells. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a long racing sled (for 2 or more people), having two pairs of runners, with the front pair connected to a steering mechanism. They are usually raced one at a time down a steeply sloping path or specially constructed chute, with sharp banked curves, and attain high speeds.
Syn. -- bobsled. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ Bob + stay. ] (Naut.) A rope or chain to confine the bowsprit of a ship downward to the stem or cutwater; -- usually in the pl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bob + tail. ] An animal (as a horse or dog) with a short tail. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rag, tag, and bobtail, the rabble. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bobtailed. “Bobtail cur.” Marryat. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the tail cut short, or naturally short; curtailed; as, a bobtailed horse or dog; a bobtailed coat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The common quail of North America (Colinus, or Ortyx, Virginianus); -- so called from its note. [ 1913 Webster ]

A short wig with bobs or short curls; -- called also bobtail wig. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Hindi kabāb ] [ Now more commonly spelled kabob. ] 1. A small piece of mutton or other meat roasted on a skewer; -- so called in Turkey and Persia. [ Also spelled kebab, kebob, or kabab. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A leg of mutton roasted, stuffed with white herrings and sweet herbs. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

shish cabob See shish kebob. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ Now more commonly spelled kabob. ] To roast, as a cabob. Sir. T. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. to cause to be confused; confuse emotionally.
Syn. -- confuse, flurry, consternate, disconcert, put off, bewilder, bemuse, throw. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. confused; upset; as, the hecklers pelted the discombobulated speaker with anything that came to hand.
Syn. -- discomfited, discomfitted, disconcerted. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. & v. t. See Cabob, n. & v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See kabab and kabob. [ PJC ]

n. [ Hind. nawāb, from Ar. nawāb, pl. of nāïb a vicegerent, governor. Cf Nawab. ] 1. A deputy or viceroy in India; a governor of a province of the ancient Mogul empire. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who returns to Europe from the East with immense riches: hence, any man of great wealth. “A bilious old nabob.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Somewhat obscurely or darkly. [ R. ] Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Partially obtuse. [ 1913 Webster ]