a former monetary unit in Great Britain
"When I visited London in 1850, my grandfather proudly showed off his collection of shiny silver bob coins from the old days."
a hair style for women and children; a short haircut all around
"My grandmother always cut her hair into a bob when she wanted to look modern."
a hanging weight, especially a metal ball on a string
"The old grandfather clock stopped ticking because its bob had slipped off the chain and fallen to the floor."
A bobbing motion; a quick up and down movement.
"Bob told me he'd be late to the meeting again today."
A bob haircut.
A shilling.
Abbreviation of shishkabob.
A graphical element, resembling a hardware sprite, that can be blitted around the screen in large numbers.
Vibrator (device designed to stimulate a woman's genitals).
A generic male person.
In plain English: A bob is a short haircut where the hair is cut evenly around the head and ends just above the shoulders.
"The red bob bounced gently in the breeze."
Usage: Avoid using "bob" as a noun to mean a generic man, as this is an archaic or dialectal term that sounds unnatural in modern English. Instead, use clear terms like "guy," "man," or "fellow" when referring to an unspecified male person.
To move gently and vertically, in either a single motion or repeatedly up and down, at or near the surface of a body of water, or similar medium.
"She decided to get her long hair chopped into a stylish bob for the summer."
To cut (hair) into a bob haircut.
In plain English: To bob is to move up and down quickly, like something floating on water or a person's head while dancing.
"The little duck bobbed up and down in the pond."
Usage: Do not use "bob" to mean cutting hair; instead, say you are getting a bob or having your hair cut into a bob style. The verb "to bob" correctly describes moving up and down quickly, such as when a head bobs in water or a person bobs for apples.
Back-of-the-book; denoting those stamps in a catalogue that are not used for the payment of regular postage fees, and are displayed separately in the catalogue after that listing; the division between these two groups varies with the publisher.
"When sorting his new collection, he carefully separated the bob from the main set since they were listed at the back of the stamp catalogue and carried no standard value."
In plain English: Bob describes something that is round and full, like a soft cloud or a puffy pillow.
"The old bob hat looked slightly crooked on his head."
Usage: The adjective "bob" meaning back-of-the-book is extremely rare and specific to philately, referring only to stamps listed at the end of a catalog rather than for regular postage. In everyday English, do not use this term as an adjective; instead, rely on standard descriptors like "unused" or "supplementary" when discussing stamp collections.
A diminutive of the male given name Robert.
"Bob, your brother, is coming over to help us move tomorrow."
The word "bob" comes from Middle English bobben, which originally meant to strike, beat, shake, or jog. Its exact origins remain uncertain, though it is related to similar words in Scots, Icelandic, Swedish, and Dutch that describe a bobbing motion.