sob
verb (used without object)
to weep with a convulsive catching of the breath.
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sob
1 American
[sob]
/ sɒb /
verb (used without object)
-
sobs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sobbed,
past participle, past
-
sobbing
present participle
-
to weep with a convulsive catching of the breath.
-
to make a sound resembling this.
verb (used with object)
-
sobs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sobbed,
past participle, past
-
sobbing
present participle
-
to utter with sobs.
-
to put, send, etc., by sobbing or with sobs.
to sob oneself to sleep.
noun
-
sobs
plural
-
the act of sobbing; a convulsive catching of the breath in weeping.
-
any sound suggesting this.
S.O.B.
2
American
Or
SOB
abbreviation
(sometimes lowercase)
sob
1
British
/ sɒb /
verb
-
(intr) to weep with convulsive gasps
-
(tr) to utter with sobs
-
to cause (oneself) to be in a specified state by sobbing
to sob oneself to sleep
noun
s.o.b.
2
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sobsimple
-
sobssimple
-
have sobbedperfect
-
has sobbedperfect
-
am sobbingprogressive
-
are sobbingprogressive
-
is sobbingprogressive
-
have been sobbingperfect progressive
-
has been sobbingperfect progressive
Past
-
sobbedsimple
-
had sobbedperfect
-
was sobbingprogressive
-
were sobbingprogressive
-
had been sobbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sob
1150–1200; Middle English sobben, apparently imitative
Explanation
If you're so upset you're crying loudly, taking in big gasps of air and heaving your chest, you are sobbing. Picture a child on the playground who has fallen and can't find his or her mother. The child's face is red and streaked with tears, and he or she is gasping from crying so hard. This poor little boy or girl is sobbing uncontrollably. Sometimes, while trying not to cry, you might let out a single sob. A "sob story" is a story meant to make you feel bad for someone, so bad you might sob for them.
Vocabulary lists containing sob
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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.
See Examples For:
Suddenly, articulating what I saw—the creative writing projects I hoped to tackle, my pride at seeing my child launch into adulthood—I found myself stifling a sob.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
“I’ll never forget this part of my life,” she said, and, behind sunglasses, began to sob.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026
And Dana takes that pause to let a sob break through her hard surface.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2026
But the beat Hudson gets exactly right comes in a scene where you’re certain this klutzy melodrama is going to force her to sob.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
Mae and Birdie surrounded me in a tight embrace and let me sob away.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
“If you’re running a campaign and your candidate is seething at the other person, and all they can talk about is, ‘That S.O.B. is an idiot,’ they typically lose campaigns,” he said.
From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2018
He famously savaged the hand that had fed him so well with S.O.B.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 16, 2010
He dropped in and out of favor, feuded with producers and famously satirized Hollywood in 1981's scathing "S.O.B."
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 16, 2010
"I had a lot of bitterness in me when I wrote the first draft," Edwards said of "S.O.B."
From Reuters ● Dec. 16, 2010
The lemon Truman handed me I have squeezed so S.O.B. will stand for 'Servants of Brotherhood.'
From Time Magazine Archive
Their inventiveness and stylishness keep the other characters from flying out of his orbit while keeping audiences riveted in their seats and even caring about the s.o.b.
From Time Magazine Archive
The sister of Maureen Brainard-Barnes broke down into sobs as she talked about how much she missed her.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
She says she felt the stares of the press sitting behind her in the gallery, taking notes on her body language and her daughter Ashley’s sobs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
She cried in silence, her shoulders moving slightly with the sobs.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
Videos taken by his older sisters show the soccer star struggling to speak through sobs.
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026
When she still hadn’t reached the land by nightfall—it stretched away from a headland and was covered with tall trees—Nhamo burst into noisy sobs.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Kadie Laws, whose father Darren Laws' ashes were recovered from Legacy, sobbed while reading her statement.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
In court, his mother and grandmother sobbed throughout as the 29 guilty verdicts were returned.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
When she died at home, where she had asked to be, I held her tightly and sobbed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
In a composed tone, as his wife sobbed in the audience, he spoke for hours about "Sammy," his "sophisticated and charismatic" daughter.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
In listening, I sobbed convulsively; for I could repress what I endured no longer; I was obliged to yield, and I was shaken from head to foot with acute distress.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
“I’m actually only going to speak about what happened after I left that set of my own film adaptation, hyperventilating and sobbing, and there are many witnesses, so it’s not really a secret.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
The movie has a pastoral coziness and lots of silly humor, but it’s also a moving meditation on death that has adults sobbing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
"He is in there," he said, sobbing as he looked at the remains of what was once a building.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
"We didn't think it would really happen. I remember sobbing in my bed, thinking that this shouldn't be happening to a 25-year-old."
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Then he went on sobbing and hiccuping and hugging his blanket while Imogene stalked off and the whole big crowd of kids grumbled at Louella as if it was her fault.
From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
