bobble

[bob-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bobble ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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), bob·bled, bob·bling.

to juggle or fumble (a batted or thrown baseball) momentarily, usually resulting in an error.

Nearby words

Origin of bobble

1805–15; bob¹ + -le; (def 4) perhaps new formation with bob²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bobble

This, like all other counter-currents—wave or otherwise—tossed up a bobble of dispute when the two clashed.
A List To Starboard|F. Hopkinson Smith
She jess reads right straight along from cover to cover without a bobble.
Free Joe and Other Georgian Sketches|Joel Chandler Harris
When I seek to do what I supremely consider to be for the best I make a bobble.
Frank Merriwell's Triumph|Burt L. Standish
He turns her north on the bullyvard, without a skip or a bobble, and she runs smooth as grease.
The Man Next Door|Emerson Hough

He could distinguish that there was something; and that the something seemed to bobble.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux

British Dictionary definitions for bobble

bobble

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

US informal to handle (something) ineptly; muff; bunglehe bobbled the ball and lost the game

Word Origin for bobble

C19: from bob 1 (vb)

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

Word Origin and History for bobble

bobble

1812, frequentative of bob (v.1). The notion is "to move or handle something with continual bobbing." Related: Bobbled; bobbling. Bobble-head as a type of doll is from 1968.