bobble
Americannoun
-
a repeated, jerky movement; bob.
-
a momentary fumbling or juggling of a batted or thrown baseball.
-
an error; mistake.
-
a small ball of fabric usually used decoratively, as in a fringe or other trimming.
a sweater with a line of bobbles up the sleeves.
verb (used with object)
-
bobbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bobbled,
past participle, past
-
bobbling
present participle
noun
-
a short jerky motion, as of a cork floating on disturbed water; bobbing movement
-
a tufted ball, usually for ornament, as on a knitted hat
-
any small dangling ball or bundle
verb
-
(intr) sport (of a ball) to bounce with a rapid erratic motion due to an uneven playing surface
-
informal to handle (something) ineptly; muff; bungle
he bobbled the ball and lost the game
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bobblesimple
-
bobblessimple
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have bobbledperfect
-
has bobbledperfect
-
am bobblingprogressive
-
are bobblingprogressive
-
is bobblingprogressive
-
have been bobblingperfect progressive
-
has been bobblingperfect progressive
Past
-
bobbledsimple
-
had bobbledperfect
-
was bobblingprogressive
-
were bobblingprogressive
-
had been bobblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bobble
1805–15; bob 1 + -le; bobble ( def. 4 ) perhaps new formation with bob 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The subtle colour of a tie or hair bobble… all of these are signals that allow the wearer to symbolically share their cultural and ideological positions," he says.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
In Wednesday’s slalom, Shiffrin laid down a vintage first run in 47.13 seconds that gave her a lead of 0.82 seconds, despite a bobble halfway down the course.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
As Muncy’s ball soared to the wall, Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick jumped, got a glove on it, and then — at least it seemed initially — caught it on a bobble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025
That bobble, Clark said, might have made the difference.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
He pointed to a green humped structure with a bobble head attached to one side by a stubby neck made of coiled spring.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Granted, it’s early and there’s plenty of time for him to course correct, and his receivers have had several key bobbles and drops.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Aurora Galli sends a free-kick into the box but the offside flag is up before anyone can take advantage as the ball bobbles into a crowd of bodies.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2024
Fujii decorated these with a basic white sugar glaze and silver bobbles.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2023
“Maybe in the short term there were some bobbles, but you don’t really see a widespread issue there either,” she said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2023
Her lavish charms, her beaming manner, her clear blue eye, milky complexion, reddish hair, and the large bobbles and beads with which she insisted upon decorating herself made Howard Cannon's nickname of Cornucopia exquisitely right.
From Who Cares? a story of adolescence by Cosmo Hamilton
The first season of Feeney ball was a resounding success, despite all the strikeouts and bobbled catches in between.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
The Angels’ Adam Frazier bobbled a throw from shortstop Zach Neto, allowing the Athletics to score and steal a 3-2 win in 10 innings on Thursday at Angel Stadium.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
Lyon goalkeeper Christiane Endler should have collected Mariona Caldentey's free-kick as it bobbled towards her, but the presence of Blackstenius put her off and she fumbled the ball backwards.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
We struggled so hard to handle Cuba, and bobbled it so often.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
His knees bobbled and bucked with the boat as it sped along, snaking its way in the writhing grooves of the stream.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
With the way the park is, the ball is bobbling about everywhere.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2024
UCLA’s Colson Yankoff was decent in his first game returning kickoffs even while bobbling one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2023
It's an unmistakable image of the Disney+ show: Mando in his silver armor and face-shielding helmet and Grogu bobbling along, behind or beside with his own gleaming protective hovercraft.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2023
He scored two plays after a wide-open Scotty Miller caught a 22-yard pass and went down while bobbling the ball at the 5.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 13, 2022
I disengaged myself from one of Bunny’s teenaged cousins—who, upon hearing I was from California, had begun to ask me a lot of very complicated questions about surfing—and, swimming through the bobbling crowd, found Henry.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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