Bob

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: bŏb, IPA: /bÉ’b/
• Rhymes: -É’b
• US enPR: bäb, IPA: /bÉ‘b/
• Rhymes: -ɑːb

Full definition of bob

Verb

1. (intransitive) To move gently and vertically, in either a single motion or repeatedly up and down, at or near the surface of a body of water.The cork bobbed gently in the calm water.The ball, which we had thought lost, suddenly bobbed up out of the water.
2. (transitive) To move (something) as though it were bobbing in water.I bobbed my head under water and saw the goldfish.bob one's head (= to nod)
3. To curtsy.
4. To strike with a quick, light blow; to tap.
• ElyotHe was suddenly bobbed on the face by the servants.

Derived terms

• bobber
• bob for apples
• bob up

Noun

1. A bobbing motion.a bob of the head
2. A bobber.
• LausonOr yellow bobs turn'd up before the plough
  Are chiefest baits, with cork and lead enough.
3. A curtsy.

Noun

1. A bob haircut.
2. Any round object attached loosely to a flexible line, a rod, a body part etc., so that it may swing when hanging from it
• 1773, Oliver Goldsmith, Ecod! I have got them. Here they are. My cousin Con's necklaces, bobs and all.
3. The dangling mass of a pendulum or plumb line.
4. The docked tail of a horse.
5. A short line ending a stanza of a poem.
6. The short runner of a sled.
7. A small wheel, made of leather, with rounded edges, used in polishing spoons, etc.
8. A working beam in a steam engine.
9. A particular style of ringing changes on bells.
10. A blow; a shake or jog; a rap, as with the fist.
11. (obsolete) A knot or short curl of hair; also, a bob wig.
• ShenstoneA plain brown bob he wore.
12. (obsolete) The refrain of a song.
• L'EstrangeTo bed, to bed, will be the bob of the song.
13. (obsolete) A jeer; a sharp jest or taunt.
• ShakespeareHe that a fool doth very wisely hit,
  Doth very foolishly, although he smart,
  Not to seem senseless of the bob.

Verb

1. (transitive) To cut (hair) into a bob haircut.I got my hair bobbed. How do you like it?
2. (transitive) To shorten by cutting; to dock; to crop
3. Short form of bobsleigh

Noun

1. (UK & Australia, historical, dated slang) A shilling.
• Joyce Ulysses, Episode 12, The CyclopsOne of the bottlenosed fraternity it was went by the name of James Wought alias Saphiro alias Spark and Spiro, put an ad in the papers saying he'd give a passage to Canada for twenty bob.
2. 1933, George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, xxix
3. ‘’Ere y’are, the best rig-out you ever ’ad. A tosheroon a crown for the coat, two ’ogs for the trousers, one and a tanner for the boots, and a ’og for the cap and scarf. That’s seven bob.’
• 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XVII... there was a sound of barking and a great hefty dog of the Hound of the Baskervilles type came galloping at me, obviously intent on mayhem, and I was just commending my soul to God and thinking that this was where my new flannel trousers got about thirty bobs' worth of value bitten out of them ...
4. (Australia, dated slang) A 10-cent coin.
5. (slang) An unspecified amount of money.
• Spot me a few bob, Robert.

Derived terms

• bob-a-job
• bent as a nine-bob note

Usage notes

The use of bob for shilling is dated slang in the UK and Australia, since decimalisation. In East African countries where the currency is the shilling, it is current usage, and not considered slang. OED gives first usage as 1789.

The use of bob to describe a 10-cent coin is derived from the fact that it was of equal worth to a shilling during decimalisation, however since then, the term has slowly dropped out of usage and is seldom used today.

Noun

1. Abbreviation of shishkabob

blitter object

Noun

1. (computer graphics) A graphical element, resembling a hardware sprite, that can be blitted around the screen in large numbers.
• 1986, Eugene P Mortimore, Amiga programmer's handbook, Volumes 1-2The bob list determines the drawing priority...
• 1995, "John Girvin", Blitting bobs (on Internet newsgroup comp.sys.amiga.programmer)IMHO, youd be better doing other things with the CPU and letting the blitter draw bobs, esp on a machine with fast ram.
• 2002, "demoeffects", Demotized 0.0.1 - A collection of demo effects from the early days of the demo scene. (on Internet newsgroup fm.announce)Changes: This release adds 2 new effects (bobs and unlimited bobs), has a GFX directory for sharing graphics, adds utility functions to the common code...

Derived terms

• shadebob

Anagrams

• obb