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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

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

The bathroom is stocked with Listerine, Lubriderm lotion and bobby pins; the fridges teem with Red Bull, baby carrots and a wide selection of juices.

From New York Times • Mar. 1, 2023

She wore an actual, well, skirt, not one of those short-short ones, and what might have been bobby socks, and looked as though she’d just walked out of my grandparents’ Brooks Brothers catalog.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben