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• bobby
  bobby

  noun

  a policeman.
• Bobby
  Bobby

  noun

  a first name, often a form of Robert or Roberta.

bobby

¹ American  

[bob-ee] / ˈbɒb i /

noun

British Informal.

bobbies plural

1. a policeman.

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Bobby ² American  

[bob-ee] / ˈbɒb i /

Or Bobbie

noun

1. a first name, often a form of Robert or Roberta.

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bobby British  

/ ˈbɒbɪ /

noun

1. informal a British policeman

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• bobbies
  plural

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

Local bobby PC Howard Taylor was suspended pending an investigation.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026

“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

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