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gob1

[gob]
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noun
  1. a mass or lump.
  2. gobs, Informal. a large quantity: gobs of money.
  3. Also called goaf. Mining. waste or barren material.
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Origin of gob1

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

gob2

[gob]
noun Slang.
  1. a sailor, especially a seaman in the U.S. Navy.
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Origin of gob2

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; origin uncertain

gob3

[gob]
noun Slang.
  1. the mouth.
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Origin of gob3

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

gob4

[gob]British Dialect
verb (used without object), gobbed, gob·bing, noun
  1. gab1.
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Origin of gob4

First recorded in 1685–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gobs

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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.

British Dictionary definitions for gobs

gob1

noun
  1. a lump or chunk, esp of a soft substance
  2. (often plural) informal a great quantity or amount
  3. mining
    1. waste material such as clay, shale, etc
    2. a worked-out area in a mine often packed with this
  4. a lump of molten glass used to make a piece of glassware
  5. informal a globule of spittle or saliva
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verb gobs, gobbing or gobbed
  1. (intr) British informal to spit
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Word Origin

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

gob2

noun
  1. US slang an enlisted ordinary seaman in the US Navy
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Word Origin

C20: of unknown origin

gob3

noun
  1. a slang word (esp Brit) for the mouth
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Word Origin

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

n.

"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).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper