gobstopper

British

/ ˈɡɒbˌstɒpə /

noun

a large hard sweet consisting of different coloured concentric layers that are revealed as it is sucked

"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

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.

In his memoir Dahl recalled various childhood exploits, including playing a prank with his friends on the local sweetshop owner Mrs Pratchett by putting a dead mouse in a gobstopper jar.

From BBC • Jun. 16, 2025

The aim was to for her to pick up the dead mouse when she was next pulling out a gobstopper.

From BBC • Sep. 12, 2016

The following morning the boys walked past the shop, to find it closed, with the gobstopper jar smashed into pieces all over the floor.

From BBC • Sep. 12, 2016

Tellingly, Joel A. Rosenthal—the reclusive designer behind JAR—refuses to work with cultivated pearls today, instead collecting antique, natural pearls to use in his oversized pendant earrings and gobstopper rings.

From Slate • Jul. 10, 2014

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023