cob
noun
a corncob.
cob
1 American
[kob]
/ kɒb /
noun
-
cobs
plural
-
a corncob.
-
a male swan.
-
a short-legged, thick-set horse, often having a high gait and frequently used for driving.
-
British. a mixture of clay and straw, used as a building material.
-
British Dialect. a rounded mass or lump.
-
a crude silver or gold Spanish-American coin of the 16th to 18th centuries, characteristically irregular in shape and bearing only a partial impression of the dies from which it was struck.
COB
2
American
abbreviation
Business.
cob
1
British
/ kɒb /
noun
-
a male swan
-
a thickset short-legged type of riding and draught horse
-
short for corncob corncob pipe cobnut
-
another name for hazel
-
a small rounded lump or heap of coal, ore, etc
-
a building material consisting of a mixture of clay and chopped straw
-
Also called: cob loaf. a round loaf of bread
verb
cob
2
British
/ kɒb /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cob
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English cobbe “male swan, leader of a gang”; these and various subsequent senses are obscurely related and probably in part of distinct origin
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:
I enjoy corn, on or off the cob.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Serve them with grilled Caesar salad, corn on the cob and something bright and fresh alongside.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
Unlike materials like cob, straw bale is adopted in the California residential building code.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025
Emulsified elote batter is molded to resemble corn on the cob.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2024
But tonight is different. the food’s good, as usual— fettucine alfredo with jumbo shrimp, corn on the cob, garlic bread sticks— but, get this, no one’s saying a word.
From "Booked" by Kwame Alexander
The COB has joined calls for Paz to step down.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
The COB report noted that the Deadly Force Review Board hasn’t met in more than 2 ½ years.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2021
“I need this done by COB tomorrow,” Manafort emailed Gates at 3 a.m. the next day.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 10, 2018
"COB" was Jeremy Corbyn's codename, that much was obvious.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2018
Therefore the angle POP' is constant, being equal to half the constant angle AOC + COB.
From An Elementary Course in Synthetic Projective Geometry by Derrick Norman Lehmer
It looks like charcoal, but the black briquettes are actually made from plant waste: millet and sesame stalks, palm fronds and cobs.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
This supplies the UK with 55 million cobs of corn each year, along with chillis, butternut squash, and also green beans.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
I learned that the distillery makes its bourbon from local Jimmy Red corn, which was two cobs away from extinction before High Wire rescued it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
Above, a large skylight is adorned with hundreds of suspended corn cobs, their illuminated forms offering one of the few sources of light in the dark and moody, monochromatic space.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2024
Why only a handful of maize cobs in the whole site, when maize, at least for the elite, was a staple food?
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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