Link Centre Dictionary

bob

UK/bɒb/ US/bɑb/ common slang uk
verb (5) noun (7)

verb

1.

move up and down repeatedly

  • “her rucksack bobbed gently on her back”
2.

ride a bobsled

  • “The boys bobbed down the hill screaming with pleasure”
Synonyms
3.

remove or shorten the tail of an animal

Synonyms
4.

make a curtsy; usually done only by girls and women; as a sign of respect

  • “She curtsied when she shook the Queen”
Synonyms
5.

cut hair in the style of a bob

  • “Bernice bobs her hair these days!”

noun

1.
2.

a hair style for women and children; a short haircut all around

3.

a long racing sled (for 2 or more people) with a steering mechanism

Synonyms
4.
5.
6.

a short or shortened tail of certain animals

Synonyms
7.

a short abrupt inclination (as of the head)

  • “he gave me a short bob of acknowledgement”

Origin

From Middle English bobben (“to strike, beat, shake, jog”), of uncertain origin. Compare Scots bob (“to mark, dance with a bobbing motion”), Icelandic boppa (“to wave up and down”), Swedish bobba (“to bob”), Dutch dobberen ("bobbing").

Phrases

  • a bob each way
  • apple bobbing
  • Baghdad Bob
  • bent as a nine-bob note
  • bent as a two bob
  • bits and bobs
  • Bob Hope
  • bob jerom
  • bob under
  • bob up
  • bob wig
  • Bobs Creek

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.