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• bob
  bob

  noun

  a short, jerky motion.
• Bob
  Bob

  noun

  a first name, form of Robert.

bob

¹ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a short, jerky motion.

   a bob of the head.

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verb (used with object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to move quickly down and up.

   to bob the head.

2. to indicate with such a motion.

   to bob a greeting.

verb (used without object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to make a jerky motion with the head or body.

2. to move about with jerky, usually rising and falling motions.

   The ball bobbed upon the waves.

verb phrase

1. bob up to emerge or appear, especially unexpectedly.

   A familiar face bobbed up in the crowd.

bob ² American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a style of short haircut for women and children.

2. a docked horse's tail.

3. a dangling or terminal object, as the weight on a pendulum or a plumb line.

4. a short, simple line in a verse or song, especially a short refrain or coda.

5. Angling.

   1. a knot of worms, rags, etc., on a string.

   2. a float for a fishing line.

6. a bobsled or bob skate.

7. Scot. a bunch, cluster, or wad, especially a small bouquet of flowers.

8. Obsolete. walking beam.

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verb (used with object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to cut short; dock.

   They bobbed their hair to be in style.

verb (used without object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to try to snatch floating or dangling objects with the teeth.

   to bob for apples.

2. Angling. to fish with a bob.

bob ³ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a tap; light blow.

2. a polishing wheel of leather, felt, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

bobbed, bobbing

1. to tap; strike lightly.

bob ⁴ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

British Informal.

• bob
  plural

1. a shilling.

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Bob ⁵ American  

[bob] / bɒb /

noun

1. a first name, form of Robert.

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bob ¹ British  

/ bɒb /

verb

1. to move or cause to move up and down repeatedly, as while floating in water

2. to move or cause to move with a short abrupt movement, as of the head

3. to make (a bow or curtsy)

   the little girl bobbed before the visitor

4. to appear or emerge suddenly

5. (intr; foll by under, below, etc) to disappear suddenly, as beneath a surface

6. to attempt to get hold (of a floating or hanging object, esp an apple) in the teeth as a game

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noun

1. a short abrupt movement, as of the head

2. a quick curtsy or bow

3. Leisure:Bell-ringing a particular set of changes

4. angling

   1. short for bobfloat

   2. the topmost fly on a cast of three, often fished bobbing at the surface

   3. this position on a wet-fly cast

bob ² British  

/ bɒb /

noun

1. a hairstyle for women and children in which the hair is cut short evenly all round the head

2. a dangling or hanging object, such as the weight on a pendulum or on a plumb line

3. a polishing disc on a rotating spindle. It is usually made of felt, leather, etc, impregnated with an abrasive material

4. short for bob skate bobsleigh

5. a runner or pair of runners on a bobsled

6. angling a small knot of worms, maggots, etc, used as bait

7. a very short line of verse at the end of a stanza or preceding a rhyming quatrain (the wheel) at the end of a stanza

8. a refrain or burden with such a short line or lines

9. a docked tail, esp of a horse

10. dialect a hanging cluster, as of flowers or ribbons

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verb

1. (tr) to cut (the hair) in a bob

2. (tr) to cut short (something, esp the tail of an animal); dock or crop

3. (intr) to ride on a bobsled

bob ³ British  

/ bɒb /

verb

1. to tap or cause to tap or knock lightly (against)

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noun

1. a light knock; tap

Bob ⁴ British  

/ bɒb /

noun

1. slang everything is or will turn out all right

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bob ⁵ British  

/ bɒb /

noun

1. (formerly) an informal word for a shilling

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bob
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bob¹

First recorded in 1400–50, bob is from the late Middle English word bobben. See bob ²

Origin of bob²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bobbe (noun) “spray, cluster, bunch (of leaves, flowers, fruit, etc.)”; of uncertain origin

Origin of bob³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bobben “to strike, beat,” perhaps imitative; see bop ²

Origin of bob⁴

First recorded in 1780–90; origin unknown; perhaps from Bob

Explanation

To bob is to dip up and down, the way something does when it floats on the surface of water. A lobster buoy bobs in the ocean, marking the spot where a lobsterman's trap is set. Your friend stands out when her red hat bobs among a crowd of people, and so does a red boat as it bobs on a lake. You might bob your head to indicate agreement or get a short haircut that's also called a bob. The motion bob comes from the Old English bobben, "to strike," while the hair style stems from the earlier bobbe, or "cluster," and first referred a trimmed horse's tail.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bob Bob bobbed bobbing

Smith, a 64-year-old who sported a blond bob, had been 16 when she got married in the 1970s.

From Slate ● May 4, 2026

“I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

The two had a romance in the postcard-perfect city, where high-rise condos climb hillsides as fishing boats bob off the coast—all framed by the Sierra Madre mountains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

Team GB capped off a disappointing bobsleigh campaign at the Winter Olympics with a "devastating" seventh-place finish in the four-man bob event.

From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026

A couple of their heads bob and weave as they fight to stay awake.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

Contra Bob Dylan, sometimes you do need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

Their early mentors in show business included former Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger and Oprah Winfrey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield voted in support of the measure, saying that he believed 41.18 to be an effective tool against homelessness, but that he trusted Soto-Martínez’s discretion to remove them within his own district.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Beard was in hospice care when he passed away at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family members at his side, band representative Bob Merlis said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

He held out a small stone trophy in Tia’s direction, and as soon as she grabbed it, Bob jumped inside it.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

And by the 1920s, women with bobbed hair came to represent female independence and rebellion.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

Hours after that chocolate spread bobbed through the cabin, the Artemis II crew disappeared behind the moon and briefly lost contact with society.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

He slipped out of a Zodiac boat and shot a few photos as he bobbed in the chilly sea.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

With her brown bobbed haircut and round sunglasses, Pelicot has become an international feminist symbol, inspiring a change to French rape laws and a public reckoning with the problem of drugging women.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

And then Finn was waking up, lifting his head from where it bobbed against Chess’s shoulder.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Rangers were bobbing and weaving and finding their range.

From BBC ● May 4, 2026

Scott said, such as head bobbing, swaying and pacing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026

Office workers being tossed around their workplaces; cars bobbing in the surf like ice cubes in a punchbowl; skyscrapers waving like reeds in the wind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

Many benchmark indexes are still bobbing around record highs, and that has many investors concerned about high stock valuations.

From Barron's ● Nov. 19, 2025

Slowly it moved its flippers like the oars of a rowboat, turning toward Renata and bobbing its head as if in greeting as it went past.

From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan