Bob
Bob (bob) , noun
[An onomatopoetic word, expressing quick, jerky motion; Old English bob bunch, bobben to strike, mock, deceive. Compare Prov. Eng. bob, n., a ball, an engine beam, bunch, blast, trick, taunt, scoff; as, a v., to dance, to courtesy, to disappoint, Old French 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.
In jewels dressed and at each ear a bob.
2.
A knot of worms, or of rags, on a string, used in angling, as for eels; formerly, a worm suitable for bait.
Or yellow bobs, turned up before the plow,
Are chiefest baits, with cork and lead enow.
3.
A small piece of cork or light wood attached to a fishing line to show when a fish is biting; a float.
4.
The ball or heavy part of a pendulum; also, the ball or weight at the end of a plumb line.
5.
A small wheel, made of leather, with rounded edges, used in polishing spoons, etc.
6.
A short, jerking motion; act of bobbing; as, a bob of the head.
7.
(Steam Engine) A working beam.
8.
A knot or short curl of hair; also, a bob wig.
A plain brown bob he wore.
9.
A peculiar mode of ringing changes on bells.
10.
The refrain of a song.
To bed, to bed, will be the bob of the song.
11.
A blow; a shake or jog; a rap, as with the fist.
12.
A jeer or flout; a sharp jest or taunt; a trick.
He that a fool doth very wisely hit,
Doth very foolishly, although he smart,
Not to seem senseless of the bob.
13.
A shilling. [Slang, English] — Dickens
Bob ({not transcribed}) , transitive verb
[Old English 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.
2.
To strike with a quick, light blow; to tap.
If any man happened by long sitting to sleep... he was suddenly bobbed on the face by the servants.
3.
To cheat; to gain by fraud or cheating; to filch.
Gold and jewels that I bobbed from him.
4.
To mock or delude; to cheat.
To play her pranks, and bob the fool,
The shrewish wife began.
5.
To cut short; as, to bob the hair, or a horse's tail.
Bob , intransitive verb
1.
To have a short, jerking motion; to play to and fro, or up and down; to play loosely against anything.
Bobbing and courtesying.
2.
To angle with a bob. See Bob, n., 2 & 3.
He ne'er had learned the art to bob
For anything but eels.
Collocations (1)
To bob at an apple or cherry , 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.