boob
1 Americannoun
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a stupid person; fool; dunce.
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British. a blunder; mistake.
verb (used without object)
noun
noun
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an ignorant or foolish person; booby
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an embarrassing mistake; blunder
-
a female breast
verb
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of boob1
1905–10, back formation from booby 1
Origin of boob2
First recorded in 1945–50; apparently back formation from booby 2
Explanation
Boob is a word for a woman's breast — it's also a word for an idiot. So if you're staring at a lady's boobs, you probably look like a boob. This is a very common slang word that's not really inappropriate. Nobody is going to get too mad about you using the word boob, though breast is definitely more anatomically correct. The other meaning of boob is similar to dope, dumbbell, dummy, pinhead, and numbskull. This meaning is also pretty harmless. Calling someone a boob is only a little insulting — not quite fighting words.
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.
"Finding the integration site in the genome manually is like searching for a needle in a haystack," said Aashutosh Boob, a ChBE Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois and primary author of the study.
From Science Daily • Feb. 13, 2024
The trappings of contemporary breastfeeding culture—including breast pumps, designer apparel from companies with names like Boob and Glamourmom, and Lactation Cookies—reflect the tangled web of social, political, and commercial interests that sustain it.
From Salon • Nov. 27, 2015
From the Boob Tube to YouTube, in the span of three generations, Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, and Millennials have each come to understand money management through starkly different prisms.
From Forbes • Nov. 2, 2014
She spent the latter part of her life raising funds for cancer charities, publishing a book called My Left Boob which chronicled her experiences - with all proceeds going to charity.
From BBC • Jul. 30, 2014
"Why grow up a Boob," wrote the philosophic Mayme, "when the lil old world is full of wise guys just aking to spill their wiseness?"
From From a Bench in Our Square by Adams, Samuel Hopkins
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.
