fob
noun
a small pocket just below the waistline in pants, designed for a watch, keys, change, etc.
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fobbed.
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:
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
It pops out when it needs to be used, either automatically through the user’s key fob or phone, or manually by pressing the handle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
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
The pocket watch, its chain and fob was found by divers at the bottom of the lake, in Wisconsin, in September 1992.
From BBC ● May 23, 2025
The woman pulled a key fob from her pocket, and the red lights of a minivan flashed.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
For entirely proper reasons, they had refused to ship any sugar this year at the 1945 price of $3.10 per 100 lbs. f.o.b.
From Time Magazine Archive
Prewar price to zoos: $2,000 to $3,000, f.o.b.
From Time Magazine Archive
For two pandas, f.o.b., he demanded two one-year scholarships, complete with tuition and living expenses, for deserving Szechwan students.
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
Oil - exports: NA Oil - imports: NA Exports: $26.6 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
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
Auto technology has evolved and many newer cars use wireless key fobs and push-button starters instead of traditional metal keys.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
Also, detectives advise drivers never to keep key fobs inside a vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
Most gang members in the Barrel loved flash: gaudy waistcoats, watch fobs studded with false gems, trousers in every print and pattern imaginable.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
When the nurses raised their concerns, they "genuinely felt they were not being taken seriously" and were "being in essence fobbed off by senior management and seen as trouble-makers", the panel said.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
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
"I have to do the chasing, they never ring me, I've explained my situation, I'm really struggling and I just get fobbed off," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2025
"I feel totally fobbed off by Bellway," he says.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
And, by Jove! she fobbed that fool off again!
From Father Stafford by Anthony Hope
"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
After unsuccessfully fobbing us off with endless series of Ross Kemp looking macho, Sky is now throwing serious money at getting viewers to watch something other than sport.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 11, 2011
There are some admirable scenes in Ben Jonson's Volpone, showing the humours of a legacy-hunter, and the different ways of fobbing him off with excuses and assurances of not being forgotten.
From Table Talk Essays on Men and Manners by William Hazlitt
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.
