a size of shot, 0.18 inch (0.46 centimeter) in diameter, fired from an air rifle or BB gun.
Also called BB shot. shot of this size.
ball bearing.
Baseball. base on balls; bases on balls.
bail bond.
baseboard.
bail bond.
Blue Book.
B'nai B'rith.
Bureau of the Budget.
What else does bb mean? In text messages and online, bb can be short for baby, especially as it's used as a term of endearment for significant others or friends. In this sense, it can sometimes be pronounced as [bey-bee]. Bb can also be short for quite a few other things, including basketball, bye-bye, the pellets of a BB gun, and some NSFW applications.
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
High Yield Index has “the highest percentage of BB bonds on record.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
The police built their case against Omar Benguit around the testimony of a drug addict, who we are calling BB for legal reasons.
From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026
It inspire Simone de Beauvoir in 1960 to say, "BB now deserves to be considered an export product as important as Renault automobiles."
From Barron's • Dec. 28, 2025
Brahmbhatt’s telecom companies filed for bankruptcy in August and were joined in bankruptcy court last week by Carriox Capital II and another financing business, BB Capital SPV.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
I’d never seen R.C. with a BB gun, but I didn’t question him.
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
