Bob word of the day

A bob hairstyle

Example sentences

• The ball bounced into the lake and then bobbed on the surface, just out of reach.
• After his bungee jump, Aaron bobbed at the end of the elastic for a few moments before someone came to release him.
• Tom bobbed for apples at his school’s Halloween party, and he won a chocolate bar.
• Julia gave a little bob as she was introduced to the princess.
• Brenda went to the hairdresser and got herself a stylish bob.
• At school many girls had their hair bobbed.

Words often used with bob

In pop culture

Did you know?

Bob is also an informal word for a shilling, which was a coin used in British money before the currency was decimalized in 1971. Bob is invariable, so if you wanted to borrow 5 shillings from your friend, you would have asked “Can you lend me 5 bob?” (not bobs). There were 12 pennies in a shilling, and 20 bob, or shillings, made a pound.

Origin

Bob, meaning ‘to gently move up and down,’ dates back to the late 14th century, in the form of the Middle English verb bobben, which came to mean ‘to move up and down,’ but before then, had meant ‘to strike, beat, shake or jog,’ as well as ‘to fool, cheat or deceive.’ Its origin is uncertain, and probably imitative, but some linguists believe that it came into English from the Old French verb bober (to mock or deride). The sense ‘to grab something floating in the water or air with your mouth’ (like in bobbing for apples) first appeared in the late 18th century. The noun, meaning ‘the act of moving up and down’ dates back to the mid-16th century, and comes from the verb. Bob, the noun meaning short hair, dates back to the late 17th century, though it was used much earlier (mid-16th century) with the sense ‘a horse’s tail cut short.’ It can be traced back to the Middle English noun bobbe (a cluster), and was mostly used in northern dialects. Its origin is uncertain, but some linguists think that it came from a Celtic language, and could be related to the Irish baban (tassel or cluster) and the Gaelic babag (tassel). As a noun, bob had many meanings, mostly related to rounded things, such as ‘the weights at the end of a fishing line’ in the 17th century, and ‘pendulum’ in the mid-18th century. The short hair sense, which had almost disappeared, came back into use in the early 20th century, when modern, radical women began wearing their hair short. By the 1920s, it had come to mean ‘a specific type of short hairstyle.’

Word of the Day is released Monday through Friday.

Recent Examples on the Web

Historic windjammers and dozens of other boats bob in Camden’s harbor.


—Heather Eng, Travel + Leisure, 25 Mar. 2023




That will surprise no one who has seen Barlow’s lanky figure bob through seemingly every art opening in the D.C. metro area for 30-odd years.


—Kriston Capps, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2023




These big ideas bob along on the novel’s buoyant tone.


—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2023




Like, today’s players would be someone like Elena Delle Donne — could bob and weave in traffic, IQ was crazy.


—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Nov. 2021




Make the green banana puree: In a medium pot, cover the bananas with water to submerge them; the bananas will bob up and down.


—Washington Post, 3 Sep. 2021




People bob along from one hedonic act to the next, never even questioning the sustainability of their life choices, much less grasping that their lives are morally and spiritually empty.


—Kyle Smith, National Review, 5 June 2021




Others snap their fingers or bob their heads to the tunes.


—Madeline Mitchell, The Enquirer, 19 Apr. 2021




Sachatamia orejuela glass frogs, whose calls are often drowned out by waterfalls, wave their hands and feet and bob their heads to attract potential mates.


—Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper’s Magazine, 16 Mar. 2021

Generally, the sargassum mat bobs harmlessly between West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.


—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Mar. 2023




Hailey Bieber is proving that the bob is arguably one of *the* cutest hairstyles of all time.


—Briannah Rivera, Seventeen, 7 Mar. 2023




The wavy bob with piece-y bangs starts dark green at the roots and transitions to a slightly lighter hunter shade at the tips.


—Marci Robin, Allure, 3 Mar. 2023




Women are suddenly flaunting their hair: left long and flowing in the malls; tied in a bun on the streets; styled into bobs on public transportation; and pulled into ponytails at schools and on university campuses, according to interviews with women in Iran as well as photographs and videos online.


—Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2023




Women are suddenly flaunting their hair: left long and flowing in the malls; tied in a bun on the streets; styled into bobs on public transportation; and pulled into ponytails at schools and on university campuses, according to interviews with women in Iran as well as photographs and videos online.


—Farnaz Fassihi, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Feb. 2023




Unfairly, the bob has acquired a bad rap as a high-maintenance hairstyle.


—Fiorella Valdesolo, WSJ, 18 Feb. 2023




Since the Malcolm & Marie star debuted the style, celebs including Hailey Bieber, Emily Ratajkowski, and Megan Fox have stepped out in shorter locks, marking the long bob as the winter hair trend.


—Quinci Legardye, Harper’s BAZAAR, 4 Feb. 2023




According to the pro, that could entail test-driving with a wig à la Beetz or pinning the under-layers of your hair to simulate a faux bob.


—Lauren Valenti, Vogue, 1 Apr. 2022


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