BB
noun
a size of shot, 0.18 inch (0.46 centimeter) in diameter, fired from an air rifle or BB gun.
BB
1 American
[bee-bee]
/ ˈbiˌbi /
noun
-
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.
BB
2
American
bb.
3
American
abbreviation
-
ball bearing.
-
Baseball. base on balls; bases on balls.
B/B
4
American
b.b.
5
American
abbreviation
-
bail bond.
-
baseboard.
B.B.
6
American
abbreviation
-
bail bond.
-
Blue Book.
-
B'nai B'rith.
-
Bureau of the Budget.
BB
1
British
abbreviation
symbol
bb
2
British
abbreviation
Usage
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.
Etymology
Origin of BB
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
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:
High Yield Index has “the highest percentage of BB bonds on record.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
But once he explains that he technically works at the company that owns QNX, he knows exactly how they will respond: BlackBerry BB 0.14%increase; green up pointing triangle still exists?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
But they did not find any evidence of BB, the three men or the car.
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
A hand cupped around an object —any object—could resemble a threat: a sandwich, a bag of Skittles, a BB gun, a stick of chalk, a palmful of air.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Opened a bb. of Beef and a tierce of bread. the people had a pale of punch.
From Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Illustrative Documents by J. Franklin (John Franklin) Jameson
Sent the pinnace a Shoar and brought off 6 bb. of Beef.
From Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Illustrative Documents by J. Franklin (John Franklin) Jameson
Opened a bb. of beef. put the following hands on board the prize With Orders to the Master which are as underneath written. the people on board Are John Webb Masr.,
From Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Illustrative Documents by J. Franklin (John Franklin) Jameson
The Master went up to York and brought the bb. of pork that Stank.
From Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Illustrative Documents by J. Franklin (John Franklin) Jameson
Opened a bb. of beef and 1 tierce of Bread.
From Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Illustrative Documents by J. Franklin (John Franklin) Jameson
Currently touring for Father John Misty's second album "I Love You Honeybear," Josh Tillman stopped by b.b. gun leather in Vancouver to present his version of "The Suburbs" inside the leatherworkers' office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2015
In the same city a doctor pulled down a ten-year-old boy's eyelid preparatory to operating for the removal of a b.b. shot.
From Time Magazine Archive
The fyve Bokes of Moses, wythe the Prologes of Wyllyam Tyndale, b.b.
From Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance by Thomas Frognall Dibdin
This lesson is embedded in the official “Sinners” Spotify playlist curated by Göransson and Coogler, which travels from the soundtrack to the earliest Delta blues recordings through B.B.
From Salon ● May 2, 2025
When I squint my eyes and throw my head back when I’m playing and stuff like that, I’m not doing it because I saw B.B.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2024
Jennings went on to write for a number of legendary artists, including B.B.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024
With the festival’s 20th anniversary sandwiched between the releases of Pearl Jam’s “Ten” and Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” the festival books Buddy Guy, Tony Bennett, B.B.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 26, 2023
My dad cranked up the volume on B.B.
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
“I picture it as a late night with your bb, up all night just the two of you in your room, dancing together and tuning out the world.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
You might claim to be a gun owner, but a bb gun as a kid does not count.
From Time ● May 2, 2013
But one of the commenters quickly laid out the problem. call me when you have access to android market via bb world. no apps= failure. that is why nobody wants a bb.
From Forbes ● Sep. 16, 2011
Bb women reached this fracture threshold four years later, and those carrying bb genes not until 29 years after menopause.
From Time Magazine Archive
It ran: times 3.12.83 reporting bb dayorder doubleplusungood refs unpersons rewrite fullwise upsub antefiling.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
