mob
English
editPronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mŏb, IPA(key): /mɒb/
- (General American) enPR: mŏb, IPA(key): /mɑb/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɒb
Etymology 1
editFrom Middle English mob, short for mobile, from Latin mōbile (vulgus) (“fickle (crowd)”). The video-gaming sense originates from English mobile, used by Richard Bartle for objects capable of movement in an early MUD.
Noun
editmob (plural mobs)
- A large or disorderly group of people; especially one bent on riotous or destructive action.
- February 13, 1788, James Madison, Jr., Federalist No. 55
- Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.
- See also: Mob (the masses)
- February 13, 1788, James Madison, Jr., Federalist No. 55
- (archaic) The lower classes of a community; the rabble.
- 1715 June 1 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 44. Saturday, May 21. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:
- A cluster of mob, who were making themselves merry with their betters.
- (collective noun) A group of animals such as horses or cattle.
- (collective noun) A group of kangaroos.
- (collective noun) A flock of emus.
- A mafia: a group that engages in organized crime.
- 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01:
- The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
- 1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books:
- What if it is a mob killing? They can’t hurt me, but …
- (Australian Aboriginal) A group of Aboriginal people associated with an extended family group, clan group or wider community group, from a particular place or country.[1]
- 2011 March 10, Allan Clarke, W.A. through Noongar eyes[1]:
- There’s nothing like local knowledge and after thousands of years living here the Noongar mob understand this land better than anyone, so it makes sense for them to tap into the lucrative tourism industry.
- 2021 November 7, Claire [G.] Coleman, “Not quite blak enough: ‘The people who think I am too white to be Aboriginal are all white’”, in The Guardian[2]:
- There’s a saying among blak mob, ‘It doesn’t matter how much milk you put in tea, it’s still tea.’ I am a descendant of genocide survivors, a child of the oldest living culture on Earth. Nothing, no amount of milk, can change that.
Synonyms
editDerived terms
editTranslations
editunruly group of people
|
group of animals
|
the lower classes of a community
|
mafia — see mafia
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb
editmob (third-person singular simple present mobs, present participle mobbing, simple past and past participle mobbed)
- (transitive) To crowd around (someone), sometimes with hostility.
- The fans mobbed a well-dressed couple who resembled their idols.
- 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian[3]:
- Politicians have been turning up to Glastonbury for years, but this year the leader of the opposition was among the most hotly anticipated attractions: when he arrived on site, his Land Rover was mobbed by fans.
- (transitive) To crowd into or around a place.
- The shoppers mobbed the store on the first day of the sale.
Translations
editto crowd around a person
to crowd into or around something
Etymology 2
editAlteration of mab.
Noun
editmob (plural mobs)
- (obsolete) A promiscuous woman; a harlot or wench; a prostitute. [17th–18th c.]
- A mob cap.
- c. 1773-1774, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs Bunbury
- cover their faces with mobs
- c. 1773-1774, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs Bunbury
Derived terms
editVerb
editmob (third-person singular simple present mobs, present participle mobbing, simple past and past participle mobbed)
- (transitive) To wrap up in, or cover with, a cowl.
Etymology 3
editAbbreviation of mobile.
Noun
editmob (plural mobs)
- Abbreviation of mobile phone.
- (video games) A non-player character, especially one that exists to be fought or killed to further the progression of the story or game.
- Synonym: mobile
- 2002, Wolfie, “Re: Whoa - massive changes due in next patch”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):
- You can't win with small, balanced groups. You have to zerg the mob with a high number of players.
Usage notes
edit- (mobile phone): This is most often used in signwriting to match with the other three-letter abbreviations tel (“telephone”) and fax (“facsimile”).
Further reading
editReferences
editAnagrams
editDanish
editVerb
editmob
- imperative of mobbe
French
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editNoun
editmob f (plural mobs)
Further reading
edit- “mob”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Volapük
editPronunciation
editNoun
editmob (nominative plural mobs)
Declension
editdeclension of mob
Derived terms
editWhite Hmong
editEtymology
editFrom Proto-Hmong-Mien *ʔmun (“illness, pain”). Cognate with Iu Mien mun.
Pronunciation
editVerb
editmob
References
edit- Ernest E. Heimbach, White Hmong - English Dictionary (1979, SEAP Publications)
Categories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɒb
- Rhymes:English/ɒb/1 syllable
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms with quotations
- Australian Aboriginal English
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English abbreviations
- en:Video games
- en:Collectives
- en:Crime
- Danish non-lemma forms
- Danish verb forms
- French clippings
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
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- Volapük terms with IPA pronunciation
- Volapük lemmas
- Volapük nouns
- White Hmong terms inherited from Proto-Hmong-Mien
- White Hmong terms derived from Proto-Hmong-Mien
- White Hmong terms with IPA pronunciation
- White Hmong lemmas
- White Hmong verbs