bobby
noun
a policeman.
bobby
1 American
[bob-ee]
/ ˈbɒb i /
noun
British Informal.
bobbies
plural
Bobby
2
American
[bob-ee]
/ ˈbɒb i /
Or
Bobbie
noun
bobby
British
/ ˈbɒbɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bobby
1835–45; special use of Bobby, for Sir Robert Peel, who set up the Metropolitan Police system of London in 1828
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:
“It’s a visual of innocence for this girl to wear these grown-up shoes with a heel, and then pair them with these youthful bobby socks,” he explained of Dorothy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
He met his wife, Mary Lou, in 1956, brunette and pretty, wearing bobby socks at a fraternity mixer at Michigan State.
From Salon ● Nov. 14, 2024
“Tight as a drum”, was how the local beat bobby described the people on his patch.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2024
But Schwartz told me that he sees even this kind of damage most often when people use bobby pins or small spatulas to clean their ears.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2023
I can get only about seventy-five percent of my hair into an elastic at any given time, and messing around with bobby pins is increasing the frizz.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Primal Scream were formed in Glasgow in 1982 but their career did not take off until singer Bobby Gillespie left his role as drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
And his father, Bobby Bonds Jr., played 11 seasons in the minor leagues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
The first was for a trip on Bobby Charlton, the second was for continuing to argue with German referee Rudolf Kreitlein.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
After the contest, the singer continued her artistic pursuit, performing with a handful of bands including Bobby Wayne & the Dixies and, later, Imagination.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
John Kennedy and aide Dave Powers were sitting in the White House living quarters having a late supper of roast chicken when Bobby walked in.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
She added: "That's why we're putting almost 3,000 more bobbies on the beat in neighbourhood roles this year."
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2025
More than 10,000 police officers will be on duty Monday, with London bobbies supplemented by reinforcements from all of Britain’s 43 police forces.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2022
They’re happier and sharper, and the rooftop concert crackles, down to McCartney ridiculing the bobbies who shut them down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2021
Rather than stopping the prank, the bobbies simply insisted the Americans don life jackets and be accompanied by a police launch.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 3, 2016
If it won’t move, w’y don’t they send for a company of London bobbies and make ’em tell it to ‘move on,’ it couldn’t refuse, you know, for nothin’ can resist that.
From Rivers of Ice by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)
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.
