mob

[ mob ]

/ mɒb /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mob ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a disorderly or riotous crowd of people.

a crowd bent on or engaged in lawless violence.

any group or collection of persons or things.

the common people; the masses; populace or multitude.

a criminal gang, especially one involved in drug trafficking, extortion, etc.

the Mob, Mafia(def 1).

Sociology. a group of persons stimulating one another to excitement and losing ordinary rational control over their activity.

a flock, herd, or drove of animals: a mob of sheep.

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of a lawless, irrational, disorderly, or riotous crowd: mob rule; mob instincts.

directed at or reflecting the lowest intellectual level of the common people: mob appeal; the mob mentality.

verb (used with object), mobbed, mob·bing.

to crowd around noisily, as from curiosity or hostility: Spectators mobbed the courtroom.

to attack in a riotous mob: The crowd mobbed the consulate.

Fox Hunting. to chop (a fox).

Nearby words

Origin of mob

1680–90; short for Latin mōbile vulgus the movable (i.e., changeable, inconstant) common people

Related forms

mob·ber, mob·bist, nounmob·bish, adjectivemob·bish·ly, adverbmob·bish·ness, noun

mob·bism, nounun·mobbed, adjective

mob

[ mob mohb ]

/ mɒb moʊb /

noun

Digital Technology. (in a video game) a hostile nonplayer character that the player may target and fight.

Origin of mob

1980–85; coined by British video-game developer Richard Bartle; shortening of mobile(def 10) (in the sense “a moving sculpture hung from the ceiling”)

MOB

mother of the bride.

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

Examples from the Web for mob

The highest form of political courage is doing the right thing when the mob is against it.
Rubio’s Embargo Anger Plays to the Past|Michael Tomasky|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
General Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to the first President Bush, shuffled head-down through the mob.
Kissy-Face The Nation: Washington’s Power Elite Smooch Bob Schieffer|Lloyd Grove|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Moments later, a mob of about 25 young men burst through the door and unleashed a brutal attack on Singh.
As 30-Year Anniversary of Mass Killings in India Arrives, Sikhs Find Safety in USA|Simran Jeet Singh|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rather than helping though, policemen were actually complicit in the mob violence.
As 30-Year Anniversary of Mass Killings in India Arrives, Sikhs Find Safety in USA|Simran Jeet Singh|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

A man tells of his lucky escape from a mob and finding acceptance in America.
As 30-Year Anniversary of Mass Killings in India Arrives, Sikhs Find Safety in USA|Simran Jeet Singh|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
"Better stay here, and not go wanderin' off into that mob," remonstrated Shorty.
Si Klegg, Book 2 (of 6)|John McElroy
If they are afraid to let the boys come nearer than hailing distance, what'll be done when the mob get here?
Down the Slope|James Otis
The day he went to the Tower, the mob lit bonfires and danced round them for joy.
Old and New London|Walter Thornbury
Whether this is a Government of law, or whether there shall be an appeal from the Supreme Court to a mob.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 9 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll
That committee did go there, and went into the midst of the mob, and did appeal to them.
Report of the Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July, 1877|Various

British Dictionary definitions for mob

mob

/ (mɒb) /

noun

a riotous or disorderly crowd of people; rabble
(as modifier)mob law; mob violence

often derogatory a group or class of people, animals, or things

Australian and NZ a flock (of sheep) or a herd (of cattle, esp when droving)

often derogatory the masses

slang a gang of criminals

verb mobs, mobbing or mobbed (tr)

to attack in a group resembling a mob

to surround, esp in order to acclaimthey mobbed the film star

to crowd into (a building, plaza, etc)

(of a group of animals of a prey species) to harass (a predator)

Word Origin for mob

C17: shortened from Latin mōbile vulgus the fickle populace; see mobile

MOB

abbreviation for

mobile phone

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 mob

mob

1680s, "disorderly part of the population, rabble," slang shortening of mobile, mobility "common people, populace, rabble" (1670s, probably with a conscious play on nobility), from Latin mobile vulgus "fickle common people" (the phrase attested c.1600 in English), from mobile, neuter of mobilis "fickle, movable, mobile" (see mobile (adj.)). In Australia and New Zealand, used without disparagement for "a crowd." Meaning "gang of criminals working together" is from 1839, originally of thieves or pick-pockets; American English sense of "organized crime in general" is from 1927.

The Mob was not a synonym for the Mafia. It was an alliance of Jews, Italians, and a few Irishmen, some of them brilliant, who organized the supply, and often the production, of liquor during the thirteen years, ten months, and nineteen days of Prohibition. ... Their alliance -- sometimes called the Combination but never the Mafia -- was part of the urgent process of Americanizing crime. [Pete Hamill, "Why Sinatra Matters," 1998]

Mob scene "crowded place" first recorded 1922.

mob

"to attack in a mob," 1709, from mob (n.). Meaning "to form into a mob" is from 1711. Related: Mobbed; mobbing.

mob

noun

adjective

verb (used with object), mobbed, mob·bing.

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of mob

mob

noun

Origin of mob

MOB

Examples from the Web for mob

mob

noun

verb mobs, mobbing or mobbed (tr)

Word Origin for mob

MOB

abbreviation for

mob

mob