gob

[gob]

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noun

a mass or lump.

gobs, Informal. a large quantity: gobs of money.

Also called goaf. Mining. waste or barren material.

Origin of gob

1350–1400; Middle English gobbe, variant of gobet gobbet

gob

[gob]

noun Slang.

a sailor, especially a seaman in the U.S. Navy.

Origin of gob

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; origin uncertain

gob

[gob]

noun Slang.

the mouth.

Origin of gob

1540–50; perhaps < Scots Gaelic gob mouth, beak

gob

⁴

[gob]British Dialect

verb (used without object), gobbed, gob·bing, noun

gab¹.

Origin of gob

⁴

First recorded in 1685–95

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gobs

aggregation, hunk, morsel, gathering, cluster, fullness, concentration, bunch, cargo, congeries, hill, hoard, agglomeration, collection, bulk, haul, bundle, harvest, bank, abundance

Examples from the Web for gobs

Contemporary Examples of gobs

Conservative evangelicalism is losing millennials in gobs, and the World Vision fallout is sure to only accelerate the fallout.
World Vision’s Gay Compromise
Brad Kramer
March 26, 2014

Historical Examples of gobs

The muck gave every step a slurping sound, and it clung in gobs.
Smugglers' Reef
John Blaine
Avoid putting on the adhesive material in "gobs and slathers."
The Butterfly Book
William Jacob Holland
We'll go aboard with his party not as officers, but as gobs.
Dave Dawson at Truk
Robert Sydney Bowen
Nobody ever looks at a couple of gobs in a vice-admiral's inspection party.
Dave Dawson at Truk
Robert Sydney Bowen
I gave out we just dropped in for fresh vegetables and fruit and I expect my gobs have loaded up by now.
The Radio Detectives Under the Sea
A. Hyatt Verrill

British Dictionary definitions for gobs

gob

noun

a lump or chunk, esp of a soft substance

(often plural) informal a great quantity or amount

mining

waste material such as clay, shale, etc
a worked-out area in a mine often packed with this

a lump of molten glass used to make a piece of glassware

informal a globule of spittle or saliva

verb gobs, gobbing or gobbed

(intr) British informal to spit

Word Origin for gob

C14: from Old French gobe lump, from gober to gulp down; see gobbet

gob

noun

US slang an enlisted ordinary seaman in the US Navy

Word Origin for gob

C20: of unknown origin

gob

noun

a slang word (esp Brit) for the mouth

Word Origin for gob

C16: perhaps from Gaelic gob

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gobs

gob

"a mouthful, lump," late 14c., probably from Old French gobe "mouthful, lump," related to gober "gulp, swallow down," probably from Gaulish *gobbo- (cf. Irish gob "mouth," Gaelic gob "beak"). This Celtic source also seems to be root of gob "mouth" (mid-16c.), which is the first element in gob-stopper "a kind of large hard candy" (1928).