Jump To:

• bob
  bob

  noun

  a short, jerky motion.
• Bob
  Bob

  noun

  a first name, form of Robert.

bob

¹ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a short, jerky motion.

   a bob of the head.

---

verb (used with object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to move quickly down and up.

   to bob the head.

2. to indicate with such a motion.

   to bob a greeting.

verb (used without object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to make a jerky motion with the head or body.

2. to move about with jerky, usually rising and falling motions.

   The ball bobbed upon the waves.

verb phrase

1. bob up to emerge or appear, especially unexpectedly.

   A familiar face bobbed up in the crowd.

bob ² American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a style of short haircut for women and children.

2. a docked horse's tail.

3. a dangling or terminal object, as the weight on a pendulum or a plumb line.

4. a short, simple line in a verse or song, especially a short refrain or coda.

5. Angling.

   1. a knot of worms, rags, etc., on a string.

   2. a float for a fishing line.

6. a bobsled or bob skate.

7. Scot. a bunch, cluster, or wad, especially a small bouquet of flowers.

8. Obsolete. walking beam.

---

verb (used with object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to cut short; dock.

   They bobbed their hair to be in style.

verb (used without object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to try to snatch floating or dangling objects with the teeth.

   to bob for apples.

2. Angling. to fish with a bob.

bob ³ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a tap; light blow.

2. a polishing wheel of leather, felt, or the like.

---

verb (used with object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to tap; strike lightly.

bob ⁴ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

British Informal.

• bob
  plural

1. a shilling.

---

Bob ⁵ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a first name, form of Robert.

---

bob ¹ British  

/ bɒb /

verb

1. to move or cause to move up and down repeatedly, as while floating in water

2. to move or cause to move with a short abrupt movement, as of the head

3. to make (a bow or curtsy)

   the little girl bobbed before the visitor

4. to appear or emerge suddenly

5. (intr; foll by under, below, etc) to disappear suddenly, as beneath a surface

6. to attempt to get hold (of a floating or hanging object, esp an apple) in the teeth as a game

---

noun

1. a short abrupt movement, as of the head

2. a quick curtsy or bow

3. Leisure:Bell-ringing a particular set of changes

4. angling

   1. short for bobfloat

   2. the topmost fly on a cast of three, often fished bobbing at the surface

   3. this position on a wet-fly cast

bob ² British  

/ bɒb /

noun

1. a hairstyle for women and children in which the hair is cut short evenly all round the head

2. a dangling or hanging object, such as the weight on a pendulum or on a plumb line

3. a polishing disc on a rotating spindle. It is usually made of felt, leather, etc, impregnated with an abrasive material

4. short for bob skate bobsleigh

5. a runner or pair of runners on a bobsled

6. angling a small knot of worms, maggots, etc, used as bait

7. a very short line of verse at the end of a stanza or preceding a rhyming quatrain (the wheel) at the end of a stanza

8. a refrain or burden with such a short line or lines

9. a docked tail, esp of a horse

10. dialect a hanging cluster, as of flowers or ribbons

---

verb

1. (tr) to cut (the hair) in a bob

2. (tr) to cut short (something, esp the tail of an animal); dock or crop

3. (intr) to ride on a bobsled

bob ³ British  

/ bɒb /

verb

1. to tap or cause to tap or knock lightly (against)

---

noun

1. a light knock; tap

Bob ⁴ British  

/ bɒb /

noun

1. slang everything is or will turn out all right

---

bob ⁵ British  

/ bɒb /

noun

1. (formerly) an informal word for a shilling

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bob
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of bob¹

First recorded in 1400–50, bob is from the late Middle English word bobben. See bob ²

Origin of bob²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bobbe (noun) “spray, cluster, bunch (of leaves, flowers, fruit, etc.)”; of uncertain origin

Origin of bob³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bobben “to strike, beat,” perhaps imitative; see bop ²

Origin of bob⁴

First recorded in 1780–90; origin unknown; perhaps from Bob

---

Explanation

To bob is to dip up and down, the way something does when it floats on the surface of water. A lobster buoy bobs in the ocean, marking the spot where a lobsterman's trap is set. Your friend stands out when her red hat bobs among a crowd of people, and so does a red boat as it bobs on a lake. You might bob your head to indicate agreement or get a short haircut that's also called a bob. The motion bob comes from the Old English bobben, "to strike," while the hair style stems from the earlier bobbe, or "cluster," and first referred a trimmed horse's tail.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bob Bob bobbed bobbing

"So there's a lot that's not great about an Oscar. And you don't get any money. They could give you a few bob with it, at least," she joked.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Smith, a 64-year-old who sported a blond bob, had been 16 when she got married in the 1970s.

From Slate ● May 4, 2026

Tall and willowy, she wore glasses and the same short brown bob she had as a teenager.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

“I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

Then my hand flew to my hair, the shingled bob, the declaration of a new woman.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

In part because the court tailored its decision to Bob Jones’s exceptional facts, the IRS has seldom exercised its court-created authority to deny schools tax exemption based on discrimination.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

Hernandez had been the regular jockey aboard the 2-year-old Hughes, but trainer Bob Baffert chose to use Flavien Prat for Friday’s Juvenile, which Hughes won to clinch the 2-year-old championship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

Despite warnings that an escape attempt would turn the Romanian guards against the prisoners, Bob O’Reilly, Poulson’s Missouri-born pilot, schemes with a number of POWs to tunnel out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Bob Cryan, the Vice Chancellor of the university, said Stewart was "very proud" of being chancellor and his success never changed him.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Bob Haldeman, one of Nixon’s closest aides, was watching the news in the next room.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

A young man with bobbed hair and an ankle monitor emerged.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

And by the 1920s, women with bobbed hair came to represent female independence and rebellion.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

Hours after that chocolate spread bobbed through the cabin, the Artemis II crew disappeared behind the moon and briefly lost contact with society.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

Still, the energy in the room remained high as the crowd sang, bobbed their heads and grooved to the music from the comfort of their plush seats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026

Her shoulders bobbed up and down, and she whimpered quietly, every so often wiping her face with the edge of Héctor’s baby blanket.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Wolff saw him bobbing around a go-kart track and convinced himself that the boy was at least worth a gamble.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

"They were bobbing around in the sea and then the very next day they were found by British aircraft, British vessels and then taken away to the prisoner of war camp," he explained.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

Now we are four confused people bobbing up and down in this cauldron of unbearable repetition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

Scott said, such as head bobbing, swaying and pacing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026

Fishermen stood on their bobbing vessels, throwing nets across the dark, still waters.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---