mob

See also: MOB, Mob, and -mob

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mŏb, IPA^(key): /mɒb/
• (General American) enPR: mŏb, IPA^(key): /mɑb/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒb

Etymology 1

From 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

mob (plural mobs)

2. 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)

4. (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.

6. (collective noun) A group of animals such as horses or cattle.
8. (collective noun) A group of kangaroos.
10. (collective noun) A flock of emus.
12. 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 …

    See also: Mob, Mafia (proper noun senses for specific ones)

14. (video games) A non-player character, especially one that exists to be fought or killed to further the progression of the story or game.
    • 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.

16. (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.
    • 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.

Synonyms

• (mafia): mafia, Mafia

Derived terms

• flash mob
• gopher mob
• heavy mob
• King Mob
• lynch mob
• meal mob
• mobber
• mobbish
• mobbism
• mobbist
• mob-handed
• mob handed
• mob-handedly
• mob-handedness
• mob law
• moblike
• mob mentality
• mobmobile
• mobocracy
• mob programming
• mob rule
• mobster
• mob stocking
• mob wife
• rent-a-mob
• smart mob
• swell mob
• trash mob
• vote mob

 

Translations

unruly group of people

• Albanian: turmë (sq) f
• Bulgarian: тълпа (bg) f (tǎlpa)
• Burmese: အပြိန်း (my) (a.prin:)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暴民 (zh) (bàomín), 烏合之眾／乌合之众 (zh) (wūhézhlzhòng)

• Czech: dav (cs) m
• Dutch: menigte (nl) f, massa (nl) c
• Esperanto: svarmo, kanajlaro, homamaso (neutral depending on context)
• Finnish: lauma (fi), väkijoukko (fi)
• French: troupeau (fr) m, cohue (fr) f, foule (fr) f
• Galician: gandaiada f, chusma (gl) f, tropa (gl) f, turba (gl) f
• Georgian: ბრბო (brbo)
• German: Pöbel (de) m
• Greek: όχλος (el) m (óchlos), σκυλολόι (el) n (skylolói) (colloquial)
• Hebrew: המון (he) m (hamón)
• Hungarian: csőcselék (hu)
• Ido: turbacho
• Italian: folla (it) f, teppaglia f, accozzaglia (it) f, schiera (it) f, stuolo (it) m, branco (it) m, fiumana (it) f, torma (it) f
• Japanese: 暴徒 (ja) (ぼうと, bōto)
• Lao: ຝູງຊົນ (fūng son), ບໍລິສັດ (lo) (bǭ li sat)
• Latin: popellus m, turba (la)
• Macedonian: толпа f (tolpa)
• Plautdietsch: Menj f
• Polish: banda (pl) f
• Portuguese: multidão (pt), turba (pt) f
• Russian: толпа́ (ru) f (tolpá), сброд (ru) m (sbrod), ша́йка (ru) f (šájka) (gang), ба́нда (ru) f (bánda) (gang)
• Scottish Gaelic: gràisg f
• Shan: ၸုမ်းၵူၼ်း (tsúm kúun)
• Spanish: turba (es), tropel (es)
• Swedish: mobb (sv) c
• Thai: ม็อบ (th) (mɔ́p), ฝูงชน
• Turkish: ayaktakımı (tr)
• Yiddish: המון m (hamóyn), אויפֿגעלאַף n (óyfgelaf), אָנגעלאַף m or n (óngelaf)

group of animals

• Czech: stádo (cs) n
• Dutch: kudde (nl) c
• Finnish: lauma (fi)
• Galician: rabaño (gl) m, magote m, tagallo m, grea (gl) f, benza f, armentío (gl) m, mancoalla f, beceira f, avenza f
• German: Herde (de) f
• Greek: όχλος (el) m (óchlos)
• Italian: branco (it) m
• Japanese: 群れ (ja) (むれ, mure)
• Maori: māpu
• Russian: ста́до (ru) n (stádo)
• Spanish: rebaño (es) m, ganado (es) m
• Volapük: (kangaroos) kangurem, (horses) jevodem, (cattle) bubem

the lower classes of a community

• Bulgarian: простолюдие (bg) n (prostoljudie)
• Catalan: xusma (ca) f, xurma (ca) f
• Czech: chátra (cs) f
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} gepeupel (nl)
• Esperanto: popolamaso, plebo
• Galician: xentualla f, xentalla f, gandallada f, chouma f, gafullada f, gafualla f, cazualla f, morralla f, gurrufalla f, zurrumalla f, colimalla f
• Greek:

  Ancient: συρφετός m (surphetós)

• Latin: popellus m
• Portuguese: gentalha (pt) f
• Russian: чернь (ru) f (černʹ)
• Spanish: chusma (es) f, gleba f, gentuza (es) f, bahorrina (es) f

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

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} مجموعَة من الناس الخارجين عن السيطرَة
• French: ^{(please verify)} foule (fr) f
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} ערב רב (eirev rav)
• Scots: ^{(please verify)} clanjamphry

Verb

mob (third-person singular simple present mobs, present participle mobbing, simple past and past participle mobbed)

1. (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^[2]:

     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.

2. (transitive) To crowd into or around a place.

   The shoppers mobbed the store on the first day of the sale.

Translations

to crowd around a person

• Bulgarian: обкръжавам (bg) (obkrǎžavam)
• Dutch: omgeven (nl)
• Finnish: piirittää (fi)
• Greek: στριμώχνω (el) (strimóchno)
• Spanish: rodear (es), amontonarse (es) alrededor (es) de

to crowd into or around something

• Bulgarian: тълпя се (tǎlpja se)
• Finnish: tunkea (fi), tungeksia
• Maori: popō, mui, tāmuimui

Etymology 2

Alteration of mab.

Noun

mob (plural mobs)

1. (obsolete) A promiscuous woman; a harlot or wench; a prostitute. [17th–18th c.]
2. A mob cap.
   • c. 1773-1774, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs Bunbury

     cover their faces with mobs

Derived terms

• mob cap

Verb

mob (third-person singular simple present mobs, present participle mobbing, simple past and past participle mobbed)

1. (transitive) To wrap up in, or cover with, a cowl.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of mobile phone.

Noun

mob (plural mobs)

1. Abbreviation of mobile phone.

Usage notes

• This is most often used in signwriting to match with the other three-letter abbreviations tel (“telephone”) and fax (“facsimile”).

Further reading

• Mob in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• BMO, BOM, BoM, MBO, OMB

Danish

Verb

mob

1. imperative of mobbe

French

Etymology

Clipping of mobylette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔb/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

mob f (plural mobs)

1. (colloquial) scooter, moped

Further reading

• “mob”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mob/

Noun

mob (nominative plural mobs)

1. suggestion

Declension

declension of mob

	singular	plural
nominative	mob	mobs
genitive	moba	mobas
dative	mobe	mobes
accusative	mobi	mobis
vocative 1	o mob!	o mobs!
predicative 2	mobu	mobus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

• mobön

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *ʔmun (“illness, pain”). Cognate with Iu Mien mun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɒ˥/

Verb

mob

1. to be ill/sick; to hurt; to be unwell

References

• Ernest E. Heimbach, White Hmong - English Dictionary (1979, SEAP Publications)