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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Instead of "Said": Words For Sad Speech
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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
"All I did was cry and sob the whole day and night," Alia recalls.
From BBC ● May 24, 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
Natalie bit back a sob as the rest of the voice mail message played.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
“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
Working eight to ten hours a day for six weeks at his home in Switzerland, he churned out his first vengeful draft of S.O.B.
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
Her voice choked with sobs, she said she was forced to observe Ramadan out of her own home for the first time in the two decades she has lived there.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
Four months later, in a halting six-minute address punctuated by deep breaths and stifled sobs, Alex Vesia publicly bared his battered soul.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
Big, heaving sobs about all of it: the death of Great-Grampy JonJon’s ambitions, and the fact that Uncle Jack really did have proof of JonJon’s innocence but couldn’t use it.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
In court, his mother and grandmother sobbed throughout as the 29 guilty verdicts were returned.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
When Cobolli sent a smash long on the second match point, Zverev instantly fell backwards onto the clay and sobbed into his hands.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 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
“We have to go back! My baby, my baby is there!” sobbed Zafoona.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
“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
Amid gasps and sobbing from the public gallery, prosecutor Steven Ball outlined the "chaotic" conditions inside the parlour, including how mould was seen on coffins and both excrement and bodily fluids on floors.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
She was generally right on target for the dramatic stories related, as take-charge and cheeky, witty, or sobbing and heartbroken as the lyrics required.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 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
Sara looked at Sydney for a moment and then at the door to the roof, her anger building as she remembered the sound of Gabriel’s sobbing.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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.
