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• bobby
  bobby

  noun

  a policeman.
• Bobby
  Bobby

  noun

  a first name, often a form of Robert or Roberta.

bobby

¹ American  

[bob-ee] / ˈbɒb i /

noun

British Informal.

bobbies plural

1. a policeman.

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Bobby ² American  

[bob-ee] / ˈbɒb i /

Or Bobbie

noun

1. a first name, often a form of Robert or Roberta.

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bobby British  

/ ˈbɒbɪ /

noun

1. informal a British policeman

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bobbies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bobby

1835–45; special use of Bobby, for Sir Robert Peel, who set up the Metropolitan Police system of London in 1828

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bobby Bobby bobbies

William Wilson, a local police detective, was appointed as coroner's officer to deal with the situation - and did so in a manner most unlike a traditional bobby.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026

He met his wife, Mary Lou, in 1956, brunette and pretty, wearing bobby socks at a fraternity mixer at Michigan State.

From Salon ● Nov. 14, 2024

But Schwartz told me that he sees even this kind of damage most often when people use bobby pins or small spatulas to clean their ears.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2023

The bathroom is stocked with Listerine, Lubriderm lotion and bobby pins; the fridges teem with Red Bull, baby carrots and a wide selection of juices.

From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2023

Mama had let me sleep in rag rollers the night before, so I had big corkscrew curls instead of my usual pigtails, and she put bobby pins in my hair, crisscrossing two on each side.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

In the middle of that shift was Bobby Friction, who now presents on BBC Asian Network.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

“I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy…personally ran over the cow in his car.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Those five acquisitions combined have provided the Mets fewer wins above replacement than Bobby Bonilla this season.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Millie Bobby Brown, who also appeared in “Godzilla vs. Kong,” was among those who shared tributes to Hottle following the news of her death.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Odell never talked much, but he was friendly and fiercely loyal to Collins, and from the time he met Bobby he’d felt a deep affection for the young boy.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

"We haven't got bobbies on the beat anymore but what you've got is that whole community working together, replacing that bobby-on-the-beat approach," she says.

From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2024

More than 10,000 police officers will be on duty Monday, with London bobbies supplemented by reinforcements from all of Britain’s 43 police forces.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2022

They’re happier and sharper, and the rooftop concert crackles, down to McCartney ridiculing the bobbies who shut them down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2021

Rather than stopping the prank, the bobbies simply insisted the Americans don life jackets and be accompanied by a police launch.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 3, 2016

Its inmates were all "bobbies" or "peelers," out of compliment to "Bobby" Peel, who called them officially into being in 1829.

From Recollections With Photogravure Portrait of the Author and a number of Original Letters, of which one by George Meredith and another by Robert Louis Stevenson are reproduced in facsimile by Murray, David Christie