fob
noun
a small pocket just below the waistline in pants, designed for a watch, keys, change, etc.
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Fobbing.
fob
1 American
[fob]
/ fɒb /
noun
-
fobs
plural
-
a small pocket just below the waistline in pants, designed for a watch, keys, change, etc.
-
especially formerly,
-
a short chain or ribbon, usually with a medallion or similar ornament, attached to a watch and worn hanging from a pocket.
-
the medallion or ornament itself.
-
-
The fob allows students 24/7 access into the residence building and their rooms.
I could never find my nail clipper in my purse, so now I’m using it as a fob on my keychain.
fob
2
American
[fob]
/ fɒb /
verb (used with object)
fobbed,
fobbing
verb phrase
f.o.b.
3
American
Or
F.O.B.
abbreviation
Commerce.
fob
1
British
/ fɒb /
noun
-
a chain or ribbon by which a pocket watch is attached to a waistcoat
-
any ornament hung on such a chain
-
a small pocket in a man's waistcoat, for holding a watch
-
a metal or plastic tab on a key ring
fob
2
British
/ fɒb /
verb
fob
3
British
/ fɒb /
noun
f.o.b.
4
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fob1
First recorded in 1645–55; origin uncertain; compare dialectal German Fuppe, Low German Fobke “pocket”
Origin of fob2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fobben; perhaps cognate with German foppen “to delude, kid, tease” ( cf. fop) or, alternatively, akin to French fourbe “cheat, swindler” (from Old French forbir “to clean”; see furbish ( def. ))
Origin of f.o.b.3
First recorded in 1870–75
Explanation
A fob is a chain that holds an old-fashioned pocket watch. If your grandfather carries his watch around in a little pocket in his vest, it's probably attached with a fob. It's uncommon to see a watch fob these days, but they were once as ordinary as the watches they held. The little pockets sewn in men's clothing were also fobs, and today, a key chain is sometimes called a fob. When fob is a verb, it means to fool people or play a trick on them, especially by giving them something less valuable than they expect. This meaning is from the obsolete fobbe, "cheater."
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:
Most recently, in March, her BMW was stolen from outside her home using an antenna to amplify the signal from the key fob inside her house.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The car has its enjoyable quirks: The hatch glass opens up with the press of a key fob button.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
The downside of this feature, Sutter said, is a signal is constantly being emitted from the key fob, similar to a debit card.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025
If you want to stop the key fob signal altogether, you can turn off the feature, Sutter said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025
He also wore a fob watch and a chain.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
If I had to figure out the cost of hauling 1,006 short tons of coal 704 ton-miles at 9 pounds, 8 and 6 a ton f.o.b.
From Time Magazine Archive
As a sales point, Chrysler had also trimmed off extras so that a Plymouth could be bought for as low as $1,295 f.o.b.
From Time Magazine Archive
The U.S. will buy the tin outright at $1.18 a pound, f.o.b.
From Time Magazine Archive
The first automobile to be mass-produced in the U.S., it sold for $650 f.o.b.
From Time Magazine Archive
Oil - exports: NA Oil - imports: NA Exports: $280 million f.o.b.
From The 2005 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency
"They're in all modern cell phones, key fobs, garage door openers, most GPS receivers, many radar systems and more."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 17, 2026
Experts suggest keeping key fobs near the center of the home so the signal is harder to pick up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025
Hikers carry fobs and must scan in at four checkpoints 7 miles apart and depart by a certain time or quit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2025
If you buy a used car, some experts also advise getting the keys reprogrammed, just in case the previous owner kept one of the fobs.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
It’s then that I remember the email that said we’d need our key fobs to access the pool if we wanted to swim before eight a.m. on weekdays.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
A woman says she was "fobbed off by the NHS" and "adenomyosis ruined my life".
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
But 59-year-old Franklin said she had been "fobbed off" by the company.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
"I was absolutely gutted and every phone call I made to the Bournemouth office, I got fobbed off."
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2025
He added the number of parties involved could be "depressing for a shared owner; that feeling of being passed from pillar to post and being fobbed off at different parts of the process".
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2025
His grievance was this: that while a rival show across the river had been accorded a military picket by the War Office, he had been fobbed off with a mere guard of Special Constables.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 14, 1914 by Various
"I feel that they're fobbing me off really. I've reported this crime. It is the police's job to investigate it," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2025
They’re asking that HHS deal directly with their case instead of fobbing it off to the NIH, which would bring it under the purview of HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
A major challenge will be keeping researchers from simply treating the requirement as another box to tick or fobbing the work off on minority scientists, Hodari says.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 4, 2022
“You can’t play those parts by just looking at them and fobbing them off,” he said.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 13, 2019
And so saying, under sufferance of being small, the plenipo was permitted to depart unmolested; for all his bravadoes, fobbing his credentials and affronts.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. II by Herman Melville
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