mob

1
[ mob ]
See synonyms for mob on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a disorderly or riotous crowd of people.

  2. a crowd bent on or engaged in lawless violence.

  1. any group or collection of persons or things.

  2. the common people; the masses; populace or multitude.

  3. a criminal gang, especially one involved in drug trafficking, extortion, etc.

  4. the Mob, Mafia (def. 1).

  5. Sociology. a group of persons stimulating one another to excitement and losing ordinary rational control over their activity.

  6. a flock, herd, or drove of animals: a mob of sheep.

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a lawless, irrational, disorderly, or riotous crowd: mob rule; mob instincts.

  2. directed at or reflecting the lowest intellectual level of the common people: mob appeal; the mob mentality.

verb (used with object),mobbed, mob·bing.
  1. to crowd around noisily, as from curiosity or hostility: Spectators mobbed the courtroom.

  2. to attack in a riotous mob: The crowd mobbed the consulate.

  1. Fox Hunting. to chop (a fox).

Origin of mob

1
First recorded in 1680–90; short for Latin mōbile vulgus “the movable (i.e., changeable, inconstant) common people”

Other words from mob

  • mobber, mobbist, noun
  • mobbish, adjective
  • mob·bish·ly, adverb
  • mob·bish·ness, noun
  • mobbism, noun
  • un·mobbed, adjective

Words Nearby mob

Other definitions for mob (2 of 3)

mob2
[ mob mohb ]

nounDigital Technology.
  1. (in a video game) a hostile nonplayer character that the player may target and fight.

Origin of mob

2
First recorded in 1980–85; coined by British video game developer Richard Bartle; shortening of mobile (in the sense “a moving sculpture hung from the ceiling”)

Other definitions for MOB (3 of 3)

MOB

  1. mother of the bride.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mob in a sentence

  • The parliament house and library of the British provinces, at Montreal, burned by a mob.

  • The moon rose on a terrified mob trudging or riding the forty miles of road between Meerut and the Mogul capital.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • Two artillery subalterns who had fought their way through a mob stricken with panic for the moment, soon arrived.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • The mob of relatives and friends wrecked and burned the castle, massacring the retainers to a man.

  • They are quite sure "the mob" will do no harm if it is vigilantly watched and thoroughly overawed.

    Glances at Europe | Horace Greeley

British Dictionary definitions for mob (1 of 2)

mob

/ (mɒb) /


noun
    • a riotous or disorderly crowd of people; rabble

    • (as modifier): mob law; mob violence

  1. often derogatory a group or class of people, animals, or things

  1. Australian and NZ a flock (of sheep) or a herd (of cattle, esp when droving)

  2. often derogatory the masses

  3. slang a gang of criminals

verbmobs, mobbing or mobbed (tr)
  1. to attack in a group resembling a mob

  2. to surround, esp in order to acclaim: they mobbed the film star

  1. to crowd into (a building, plaza, etc)

  2. (of a group of animals of a prey species) to harass (a predator)

Origin of mob

1
C17: shortened from Latin mōbile vulgus the fickle populace; see mobile

Derived forms of mob

  • mobber, noun
  • mobbish, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for MOB (2 of 2)

MOB

abbreviation for
  1. mobile phone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012