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▪ I. bobbin, n.1|ˈbɒbɪn| Forms: 6 bobbyn, 6–8 bobin, 7– bobbin. [a. F. bobine ‘a quil for a spinning wheele; also a skane or hank of gold or silver thread’ (Cotgr. 1611); origin unknown: see guesses in Littré and Diez.] 1. An article round which thread or yarn is wound, in order to be wound off again with facility, and as required, in weaving, sewing, etc. a. ‘A small pin of wood, with a notch, to wind the thread about when women weave lace.’ J. (A cylinder 3 or 4 in. long, like a thickish pencil.) b. A wooden or metal cylinder, perforated so as to revolve on a spindle, having a flange or ‘head’ at one or both ends (according to the purpose for which it is adapted), used to receive thread or yarn, and give it off by unwinding, in the processes of spinning, warping, weaving, frame-work knitting, etc. c. A small spool for receiving the thread, placed within the shuttle, in some sewing machines. d. In many parts of England: An ordinary ‘reel’ or ‘spool’, on which sewing cotton, silk, etc. are wound for sale and use, having the form of a small wooden cylinder, with a broad edge or rim at both ends.
1530Palsgr. 199/1 Bobbyn for a sylke woman, bobin. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1220 Turned in maner of spindles or bobins, as folke spin or twist therewith. 1662Fuller Worthies i. 246 Bone-lace it is named, because first made with bone (since wooden) bobbins. 1729Pullein in Phil. Trans. LI. 23 The old method of reeling the silk over a bobin. 1736Sheridan in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 165 If my skin were dry, my bones would rattle like a bag of bobbins. 1869F. B. Palliser Lace vii. 110 The oftener the bobbins are twisted the clearer and more esteemed is the Valenciennes. 1876J. Watts Brit. Manuf. III. 136 It draws out the cotton, twists it, and winds it upon a bobbin. e. A reel round which wire is coiled in electrical instruments.
1870R. Ferguson Electr. 41 The thread..is wound round a slender movable bobbin. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (ed. 6) II. xvi. 441 The bobbins, in which the currents are induced. 2. ‘A fine cord in haberdashery’ (Beck Draper's Dict.: cf. quot. 1886); ‘round tape’ (Webster).
1641Milton Animadv. Wks. (1851) 191 To rumple her laces, her frizzles, and her bobins. 1843Lytton Last Bar. ii. i, Tied with bobbins of gold thread. 1866Blackmore Cradock N. xlvi. 305 A leathern bag..wash leather tied with bobbin. 1886Beck Draper's Dict. s.v., In 1578 we find ‘Skotish bobin sylke’, and ‘bobbing’ appearing in an inventory of that date in conjunction with twine and thread. †3. Sc. The seed-pod of the birch. (Jamieson.)
c1562A. Scott Month of May, To bring in bowis and birkin bobbynis. 4. A rounded piece of wood attached to a string, which passes through a door, and is fastened to the latch, so as to raise it. Hence bobbin-latch.
Little Red Riding-hood (ed. 1820) ‘Pull the bobbin and the latch will go up’. Little Red Riding-hood pulled the bobbin, and the door opened. 5. Comb., as bobbin-boy, bobbin-mill, bobbin-turner; bobbin-lace, lace made on a pillow with bobbins; bobbin-stand, a frame for holding the bobbins of a weaving- or spinning-machine; bobbin-winder, a contrivance for winding thread, etc. on a bobbin; † bobbin-work, ‘work woven with bobbins’. J. See also bobbin-net.
1681Grew Museum (J.) Not netted nor woven with warp and woof, but after the manner of bobbinwork. 1857Mrs. Gaskell C. Brontë I. 68 A bobbin-mill..where wooden reels were made. 1871J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 45 Not everybody has the genius to be a Bobbin-Boy! 1886Pall Mall G. 23 Aug. 4/2 Born at Troutbeck..he served his time to the trade of bobbin-turner. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §399, Bobbin boy (jute)..bobbin boy (rope and twine).
▸ In pl. Brit. regional slang (orig. and chiefly Lancs.). Rubbish; something worthless or useless.
1991‘F. Sidebottom’ in Independent 14 Feb. 15/4 I'm going to get rid of Little Frank. Everybody says he's bobbins. Don't quote me on that. Just say, ‘an insider revealed that Little Frank is bobbins’. 1996Minx Nov. 81/1 Burnley, Lancashire... Not so good: Bobbins. 2000M. Blake 24 Karat Schmooze (2001) v. 52 Pete dragged himself away from eyeing up the talent. ‘Taken to the capital then, have you?’ ‘It's bobbins.’ ‘Mary Poppins? What are you on about?’ ‘I mean it's shite.’ 2004Touch Apr. 91/1 Has the American media shunned..her..because they knew her comeback single was bobbins? ▪ II. bobbin, n.2 dial. [Cf. babbin: but can it be the same as prec.?] A small bundle or fagot of fire wood.
Kent. dial. Buying wood, making it up into bobbins, and then selling it for fire-lighting. ▪ III. bobbin, n.3|ˈbɒbɪn| [Etym. obscure.] Applied attrib. to the payment made to a fish porter at Billingsgate market.
1936J. L. Hodson Our Two Englands xii. 239 The carrying prices, or bobbin rates, are all fixed in the trade. 1953Times 3 Jan. 3/2 They heard of ‘bobbin charges’, paid by the customer to the porter for carrying the fish from the merchant. ▪ IV. ˈbobbin, v. [f. bobbin n.1] To wind on bobbins. Hence ˈbobbining vbl. n.
1883Glasgow Weekly Her. 5 May 8/5 Rope yarn bobbining machine wanted, 4, 6 or 8 spindles. |