glob

American  

[glob] / glɒb /

noun

1. a drop or globule of a liquid.

2. a usually rounded quantity or lump of some plastic or moldable substance.

   a little glob of clay; a huge glob of whipped cream.

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glob British  

/ ɡlɒb /

noun

1. informal a rounded mass of some thick fluid or pliable substance

   a glob of cream

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Etymology

Origin of glob

1895–1900; perhaps blend of globe and blob

Explanation

A glob is a shapeless clump or hunk of something. Even the most skilled potter starts out with nothing but a glob of damp clay on her pottery wheel. Globs are soft, squishy, or partly liquid substances — you can't really have a glob of pizza, but you can add a glob of melty mozzarella to the top of a pizza. An artist drops globs of oil paint on her palette, and a chocolate maker fills molds with globs of warm melted chocolate. While we know glob first appeared in print around 1900, its origin isn't clear. It may have imitated words like blob and gob.

Example Sentences

If eaten in the right order, locals say, fresh notes should emerge with each glob on the flight: caramel, custard and finally, an almost alcoholic bitterness heralding the Musang King.

From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026

"It represents who I am, I think," said Braathen, who left the Norwegian set-up in 2023 after clinching the World Cup slalom crystal glob and announced his link-up with the Brazilian federation in March 2024.

From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025

“Not, put it on the baseball, not glob the baseball with it, but put a little pine tar on their fingertips and give them a little better adherence to the baseball.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 20, 2025

"It's basically a glob of randomness," Xue said.

From Science Daily • Jan. 4, 2024

My chest and head flared up into a big shimmering glob.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Related Words

• blob
• clump
• gob