mobn.²adv.

Brit.

/mɒb/, U.S.

/mɑb/

Forms: 1600s–1700s mobb, 1600s– mob, 1700s mob. (with point).

Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: mobile n.²

Etymology: Shortened < mobile n.²Compare the following:1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 135. ⁋10 It is perhaps this Humour of speaking no more than we needs must which has so miserably curtailed some of our Words,..as in mob. rep. pos. incog. and the like.a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vii. §89. 574 The Rabble first changed their Title, and were called the Mob in the Assemblies of this [the King's Head] Club. It was their Beast of Burthen, and called first, mobile vulgus, but fell naturally into the Contraction of one Syllable.1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. li Abbreviations exquisitely refined; as Pozz for Positive, Mobb for Mobile. In quot. 1688¹ at sense 1a, punning on mob n.¹

a. A disorderly or riotous crowd, a rabble.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > disorder or riot > [noun] > one who creates a disturbance or rioter > crowd of

routc1300

rabblea1398

rebel rout1648

mob1688

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > the rabble > a rabble

ginga1275

frapaillec1330

rabblea1398

rascal1415

rafflea1450

mardlec1480

rabblement1543

riff-raff1570

rabble rout?1589

scum1597

skim1606

tumult1629

rebel rout1648

mob1688

drabble1789

attroopment1795

scuff1856

shower1936

1688 T. Shadwell Squire of Alsatia iv. i. 59 Here honest Mob, course this Whore to some purpose.

1688 Verney Mem. (1899) 13 Dec. IV. 447 The Mobb carried away the very boards and rafters.

1715 Boston News-let. 21 Feb. 2/1 On the Evening of the day the King was Crown'd, the Mobb got up at Bristol, and very much Insulted the Dissenting Party as they met any of them in the Street.

1774 G. Morris in J. Sparks Life G. Morris (1832) I. 25 We shall be under the domination of a riotous mob.

1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 125 Lord George Gordon..having..raised a mob (excuse the term, it is still in use here) which pulled down all our prisons.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 559 The army had become a mob.

1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People (1878) x. 729 When mobs were roaring themselves hoarse for ‘Wilkes and liberty’.

1897 E. A. Ross in Appletons' Pop. Sci. Monthly July 390 Great mental instability marks the true mob.

1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xvii. 290 My dear Hewet, do you wish us both to be flung out of the hotel by an enraged mob of Thornburys and Elliots?

1931 E. S. Bogardus Fund. Social Psychol. (ed. 2) xxv. 315 A mob is a crowd in a very high state of suggestibility.

1959 M. M. Gill & M. G. Brenman Hypnosis ix. 293 Such people are sometimes said to be hypnotized. They show regressive phenomena similar to those revealed by a mob.

1990 Daily Mail 10 Mar. 1/1 Twenty mounted police chased the mob up Brixton Hill.

†b. A member of a mob. Obsolete.Only in theatrical use for stage directions, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > the rabble > one belonging to the rabble

ribalderc1400

rascalc1475

rascaller?1518

riff-raff1602

tag-rag1609

rascabilian1616

mob1703

rag-tag1802

1701 E. Settle Virgin Prophetess v. 36 (stage direct.) Enter the Mob of Troy half Drunk. 1st M. Huzzah, come along Boys... 2d M. Well, here will be roaring Doings to Night.]

1703 W. Burnaby Love Betray'd v. 51 (stage direct.) Enter Two Souldiers, and one of the Mob. Mob. That's he! That's he! Knock him down, while I call the Captain.

1706 G. Farquhar Recruiting Officer (ed. 2) ii. 18 Enter Kite, with a Mob in each Hand drunk.

1780 F. Pilon Siege Gibraltar facing sig. B Characters... 3rd Soldier, Mr. Wewitzer. 1st Mob. Mr. Jones. 2d Mob. Mr. Ledger [etc.].

?1858 T. Taylor Going to Bad II. i. 39 1st Mob..Go it, my little biled lobster.

a. colloquial. A large crowd or group of people; esp. a group of people sharing distinctive characteristics or a common identity or occupation. Also: a clique or gang.In Australian usage from the late 19th cent. often applied to a gang of workmen.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > of people or animals > regarded as a whole or a body of people gathered > large or numerous > diverse

mob1688

zoo1885

1688 Capt. Southouse Taking K. James (B.M. Add. MS 32091–96) f. 3 These Gent. mob [apparently the king and his friends] were much perplex'd to get a coach.

1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Cock & Fox in Fables 235 Fancy..Compounds a Medley of disjointed Things, A Mob of Coblers, and a Court of Kings.

a1704 T. Brown Declam. Praise Wealth in Wks. (1707) I. i. 126 The Applauses the Mob of Quality gave to the Dons Oration.

1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. i. 7 But for the Wits of either Charles's days, The Mob of Gentlemen who wrote with Ease; Sprat, Carew, Sedley, and a hundred more.

1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 54 Earth's genuine Sons, the Sceptred, and the Slave, A mingled Mob! a wandring Herd!

1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 206 Train him in public with a mob of boys.

1804 Sydney Gaz. 15 Apr. 2 The writer..strenuously recommends the dispersion of the Little Chuck Farthing Mob that generally assembles at one of the wharfs in the course of the afternoon.

1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab v. 62 Gold: Before whose image bow..The mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and kings.

1848 Atlas (Sydney) 4 379/1 The electors of Geelong and Portland have been disfranchised by a Melbourne mob.

1852 Austral. & N.Z. Gaz. 10 Jan. 11/2 In Major Hornbrook's words ‘the Stedfast's mob is a much jollier mob than that of the Duke of Bronte.’

1860 G. Duppa in S. S. Crawford Sheep & Sheepmen Canterbury (1949) v. 48 Commence shearing with a strong mob of shearers.

1875 A. Helps Party-spirit in Ess. 100 Those who think whatever the little mob in which they live pleases to think.

1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. i. iv. 70 We've only to advertise, to get a mob of people after it.

1907 W. H. Koebel Return of Joe 257 [He] had but a few hours ago formed one of their ‘mob’, and [was] the most skilful bushwhacker in the district.

1933 D. Runyon in Collier's 28 Jan. 41/2 ‘Especially’, he says, ‘in saving a few souls to build up her mob at the mission.’

1941 Coast to Coast 214 The mob around the bar was thinning down, with chaps grabbing their bundles and going off home.

1956 R. Stout Before Midnight 158 A mob of experts was expertizing in every direction.

1971 D. Bagley Freedom Trap iii. 62 This is a very exclusive mob; very picky and choosy.

1996 D. Brimson & E. Brimson Everywhere we Go vi. 79 On the day of the match we had a mob of about 250 lads heading to Middlesbrough for revenge.

b. In extended use: a collection, crowd, or mass (of things).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > heterogeneous

miscellanea1565

caravan1623

mob1728

1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 55 She sees a mob of Metaphors advance.

1745 E. Young Consolation 72 'Twill not make One amid a Mob of Thoughts.

1791 T. Paine Rights of Man i. 117 His intention was to make an attack on the French Revolution; but instead of proceeding with an orderly arrangement, he has stormed it with a Mob of ideas, tumbling over and destroying one another.

1844 Port Phillip Patriot (Melbourne) 22 July 2/6 They buttoned up in front; the only suit in the mob which did so.

1892 G. Parker Round Compass Austral. v. 72 My wife..insisted on my carrying this book to you..and if it was in your mob of books, to give this copy to somebody that would appreciate it.

1902 J. Conrad Heart of Darkness ii, in Youth 105 The broadening waters flowed through a mob of wooded islands.

1948 R. Ellmann Yeats (1949) iv. 41 He was besieged by a mob of ideas, uncertainties, and passions.

1994 Denver Post 2 Jan. t6/4 In northern Pakistan, four of the world's greatest mountain ranges collide in a wild mob of jagged peaks.

c. Australian colloquial. In plural. Great quantities, a large amount, masses (of something). Also as adv.: in a great degree, very much.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > (a) great quantity or amount

felec825

muchc1230

good wone1297

plentyc1300

bushelc1374

sight1390

mickle-whata1393

forcea1400

manynessa1400

multitudea1400

packc1400

a good dealc1430

greata1450

sackful1484

power1489

horseloadc1500

mile1508

lump1523

a deal?1532

peckc1535

heapa1547

mass1566

mass1569

gallon1575

armful1579

cart-load1587

mickle1599

bushelful1600–12

a load1609

wreck1612

parisha1616

herd1618

fair share1650

heapa1661

muchness1674

reams1681

hantle1693

mort1694

doll?1719

lift1755

acre1759

beaucoup1760

ton1770

boxload1795

boatload1807

lot1811

dollop1819

swag1819

faggald1824

screed1826

Niagara1828

wad1828

lashings1829

butt1831

slew1839

ocean1840

any amount (of)1848

rake1851

slather1857

horde1860

torrent1864

sheaf1865

oodlesa1867

dead load1869

scad1869

stack1870

jorum1872

a heap sight1874

firlot1883

oodlings1886

chunka1889

whips1888

God's quantity1895

streetful1901

bag1917

fid1920

fleetful1923

mob1927

bucketload1930

pisspot1944

shitload1954

megaton1957

mob-o-ton1975

gazillion1978

buttload1988

shit ton1991

1927 M. H. Ellis Long Lead 81 See ‘mobs of scenery’. ‘Mobs’ is the superlative of everything in the Territory. It is the equivalent of superabundance.

1934 A. Russell Tramp-royal in Wild Austral. xiii. 91 There'll be mobs of water on the track, we'll get mobs of beef at the runs, the stages'll be mobs shorter, an' there'll be mobs better camping grounds... And of course we'll be able to take it mobs easier.

1942 C. Barrett On Wallaby iii. 41 Even an offer of..mobs of tucker..failed to gain me a guide.

1986 Sun (Melbourne) 10 Jan. 9/1 How much do you think an incorrect prediction..would cost?.. Great mobs of money.

3. Usually depreciative. With the: the common people; the populace; the masses.This is noted by Swift among the vulgarisms for which he censures Bishop G. Burnet's Hist. Own Time (a1715).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > [noun]

folkc888

peoplea1325

frapec1330

commona1350

common peoplea1382

commonsa1382

commontya1387

communityc1400

meiniec1400

commonaltya1425

commonsa1500

vulgarsa1513

many1526

meinie1532

multitude1535

the many-headed beast (also monster)1537

number1542

ignobility1546

commonitya1550

popular1554

populace1572

popularya1578

vulgarity?1577

populacya1583

rout1589

the vulgar1590

plebs1591

mobile vulgusc1599

popularity1599

ignoble1603

the million1604

plebe1612

plebeity1614

the common filea1616

the herda1616

civils1644

commonality1649

democracy1656

menu1658

mobile1676

crowd1683

vulgusa1687

mob1691

Pimlico parliament?1774

citizenry1795

polloi1803

demos1831

many-headed1836

hoi polloi1837

the masses1837

citizenhood1843

John Q.1922

wimble-wamble1937

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > the rabble

commona1350

rascala1382

rascaldry?1457

routc1475

tag and ragc1535

riff-raff1545

rabble1549

rascabilia1557

rabblement1565

bran1574

rascability1583

rascality1583

canaille1588

canalliary1600

canaglia1607

taga1616

ribble-rabble1635

volge1639

rabble rout1650

tag-rag and bob-tail1660

mobile1676

mobility1690

mob1691

rag-tag (also rag, tag) and bob-tail1725

kennel1726

rough scruff1814

rough scuff1816

tag-rag1826

rascalry1827

rascalment1832

doggery1843

polloi1856

raggle-taggle1958

1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xxiv An idle Notion..that intoxicated the beliefs of the Mob.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. iii. v. 70 At least he [sc. the Prince of Orange] thought religion was only for the mob.

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 91 She sat among the Mob in the Gallery.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. ix. 50 Refusing to gratify the good-natured Disposition of the Mob. [Note] Whenever this Word occurs in our Writings, it intends Persons without Virtue, or Sense, in all Stations.

1797 R. Southey Lett. from Spain iv. 45 The opinion of this forgiving power vested in the church, will, among the mob of mankind, destroy the motives to virtue.

1831 Ld. Brougham Speeches 7 Oct. (1838) II. 599 I do not mean the populace—the mob: I never have bowed to them.

1868 M. E. Grant Duff Polit. Surv. 143 The mob of the great cities..is hostile to us.

1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxxiii. 430 What usually happens when a poor fellow is put in the pillory?.. The mob try to have some fun with him, don't they?

1951 H. Arendt Burden of our Time i. i. 10 The steady growth of the modern mob—that is of the déclassés of all classes.

1993 Harper's Mag. Dec. 72/3 One ghost is terror of a self-aware, politicized proletariat—the age-old mugwumpish fear that the mob may organize to destroy the last fragile vestiges of civilized life.

†4. Usually depreciative. Without article: people forming a crowd or considered as a mass. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > persons of the lowest class (collectively)

chenaille1340

offal?a1425

putaylea1425

ribaldail1489

abject1526

offscouring1526

dreg1531

outsweeping1535

braggery1548

ribaldry1550

raff1557

sink1574

cattle1579

offscum1579

rabble1579

baggagery1589

scum1590

waste1592

menialty1593

baggage1603

froth1603

refuse1603

tag-rag1609

retriment1615

trasha1616

recrement1622

silts1636

garbage1648

riffle-raffle1668

raffle1670

riff-raff1678

scurf1688

mob1693

scouring1721

ribble-rabble1771

sweeping1799

clamjamphrie1816

ragabash1823

scruff1836

residuum1851

talent1882

1693 Humours & Conversat. Town 128 A number of undistinguishable mob.

1716 J. Addison Freeholder No. 44. ⁋3 A cluster of mob, who were making themselves merry with their betters.

1751 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 18 Mar. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1699 Every numerous assembly is mob, let the individuals who compose it be what they will.

1789 A. Young Jrnl. 25 July in Trav. France (1792) i. 143 Great riots at Belfort:—last night a body of mob and peasants demanded of the magistrates the arms in the magazine.

a. A gang of criminals, esp. thieves. Also: a member of such a gang (now rare).swell mob: see swell adj. c.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > company of thieves

school1779

kleptocracy1819

mob1826

flash mob1832

push1866

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > company of thieves > member of

mobsman1843

mob1884

1826 in G. C. Ingleton True Patriots All (1952) 109 The trial of Brady's mob.

1839 H. Brandon Dict. Flash or Cant Lang. in W. A. Miles Poverty, Mendicity & Crime 164/1 Mobs, companions. Working with mobs. Robbing with companions.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 220/1 Some classes of patterers..work in ‘schools’ or ‘mobs’ of two, three, or four.

1865 Leaves from Diary Celebrated Burglar 28/1 Off we went to the ‘sheeney's’ to bid good-bye to Fobbs and his ‘mob’.

1884 Standard 6 June 6/3 There were about twenty mobs (pickpockets) that never got a rap.

1903 ‘J. Flynt’ Rise Ruderick Clowd (1904) iii. 106 ‘Forty [cents] out of every dollar you cop out—understand?’—‘Who gets the rest?’—‘The mob an' the kitty.’

1947 Amer. Speech 22 162 Skilled mobs [of grifters] working in prosperous areas will easily gross from $200 to $400 per day.

1951 T. E. B. Clarke (title of film) The Lavender Hill Mob.

1961 M. L. Harney & J. C. Cross Narcotic Officer's Notebk. vi. 118 A purse..was dropped. The ‘sucker’ was allowed to find it right along with a member of the mob.

b. spec. originally U.S. An organized association or gang of violent criminals; an organization engaged in large-scale criminal activity. Also (usually as the Mob): the Mafia.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > criminal gang

gang1652

mob1927

syndicate1929

connection1969

1927 Amer. Speech 2 385/1 Any kind of a gang was known as a push, a word credited to Australia, but I think it is a sister of the mob of the city underworld.

1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest ix. 91 He was in on the Keystone Trust knock-over in Philly two years ago, when Scissors Haggerty's mob croaked two messengers.

1938 Sun (Baltimore) 1 Sept. 1/4 Davis, the broken mouthpiece of the once-powerful Dutch Schultz policy racket, swore..that James J. Hines..was paid thousands of dollars by the mob.

1969 Guardian 24 Jan. 7/6 The Mob from its Chicago headquarters runs the subcontinent.

1975 ‘A. Thackeray’ One Way Ticket 23 Better watch out... It could be the Mafia, the Mob, or whatever they call it these days.

1993 Time Internat. 25 Jan. 29/3 Leolucca Orlando..who now heads an anti-Mafia political party called La Rete, cautions that the Mob still represents a serious threat.

a. Australian and New Zealand. A flock, herd, or drove of animals.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > herd or flock

herda1000

flockc1200

routc1300

flowinga1382

rabblec1400

meinie1481

many1579

school?1590

plump1591

charm1801

band1824

mob1828

1828 Hobart Town Courier 12 July 2 The wild mob [of cattle]..not content with devouring our grass, walk off with every horn and hoof belonging to us.

1846 G. H. Haydon Five Years Austral. Felix iii. 59 The ‘old men’ kangaroos are always the largest and strongest in the flock, or in colonial language, ‘mob’.

1853 R. Clough Let. 24 Sept. in J. Deans Pioneers of Canterbury (1937) 295 I should like to put all the calvers in one mob.

1875 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1874 7 130 For about 400 birds of this large size to have been roasted in so small a compass in one mob would be a physical impossibility.

1906 ‘J. Oxenham’ John of Gerisau ix. 65 At last..we sighted him [sc. a white colt], galloping quietly along in the centre of the very last mob of all.

1940 Geogr. Jrnl. 95 242 There is now only one firm remaining which has a mob of mules.

1972 P. Newton Sheep Thief ii. 20 The two men had taken out a mob of ewes.

1987 Stock & Land (Melbourne) 18 June 28 I can easily put a mob of cattle through by myself if I have to.

†b. Scottish (Shetland). A school of whales. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1898 Shetland News 30 July 5/3 It is believed that this shoal [of whales] consisted of two ‘mobs’.

7. Australian and New Zealand. A community or group of Australian Aboriginal people or Maoris.Typically used without disparaging implication.

ΚΠ

1828 Hobart Town Courier 13 Sept. 3 The tribe of natives..consisted of what is generally known as the Big river mob and another united.

1845 N.Z. Company Rep. 19 70 The Pah is small, and occupied by a few Natives, the crops, as I understood, being the property of several ‘mobs’ in different parts of the Sound.

1898 Papers & Proc. Royal Soc. Tasmania 1897 179 Although Robinson dignifies the tribes with the name of ‘nations’, they were known to the settlers by the designation of ‘mobs’.

1911 Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Nov. 14/1 The Abo. Protection officials are doing their best to carry out an unworkable Act..and the niggers have ‘gone walkabout alonga bush’ in mobs.

1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft viii. 155 You may meet the Abo. He may be only a poor specimen on the outskirts of a township, or he may be a ‘mob’ of half-wild blokes in the furthest nor'west.

1984 Aboriginal Hist. 8 37 The old people..use names which link people with parts of the country by reference to pastoral stations. Thus the Nhiiyikiyalu are referred to as the ‘Marfield mob’.

8. Military slang. A body of troops; a battalion, regiment, or other military unit. Also (in extended use): a unit or organization within the police, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > [noun]

companyc1325

compartment1590

brigade1637

detachment1678

contingent1728

unit1861

crowd1901

crush1904

mahalla1906

outfit1909

mob1916

serial1941

1916 J. N. Hall Kitchener's Mob i. 1 ‘Kitchener's Mob’ they were called in the early days of August, 1914, when London hoardings were clamorous with the first calls for volunteers.

1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 156 Mob, any collection or body of troops. A very old Army term.

1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 120 Mob, unit, not necessarily in a derogatory sense. ‘What mob are you from, chum?’

1972 M. Pugh Murmur of Mutiny iv. 34 You must have heard of Sharjah and the Trucial Oman Scouts. This mob is modelled on them.

1975 P. McCutchan Very Big Bang xiii. 125 I'm Yard, you're FO. Use your own mob, Simon.

1985 ‘J. Higgins’ Confessional (1986) viii. 124 Her husband's a major with your old mob.

Compounds

C1.

a. General attributive.

mob action n.

ΚΠ

1843 Biblical Repertory Jan. 124 The design is to create in the public mind, an obstruction to the execution of a particular sentence of the law..as really involves the principle of mob-action.

1995 Jrnl. Negro Hist. 80 161 Comparing mob action to anti-semitic pogroms of the Dark Ages, he called on Mississippians to stamp out lynching.

2012 A. Siomopoulos Hollywood Melodrama & New Deal ii. 30 Early mob violence films..argue that the reason for mob action is not mass culture but exclusion from it.

† mob-assembly n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. ii. §70. 66 This Mob-assembly was drawn together for the Purpose of Terror.

† mob-associator n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1750 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. II. 135 These mob-associators broke open houses by night.

mob baron n.

ΚΠ

1952 B. B. Turkus & S. Feder Murder, Inc. xv. 345 One mob baron..‘moved in’ to the extent that he had his picture taken in a friendly pose with a candidate for the vice-presidency of the United States.

1999 Evening Post (Nottingham) (Nexis) 6 Mar. 2 Demon cardsharp Eddy loses a rigged brag game with the local mob baron.

mob behaviour n.

ΚΠ

1909 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 14 682 It is a question whether such phenomena as mob behavior, fashion..etc., can best be treated apart from their functional value in the life process of the group.

1992 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 51 92 Local Chinese authorities were not averse..to raising the specter of Boxerism, in the sense of unruly mob behavior..to justify their suppression of anti-imperialist political activity.

mob boss n.

ΚΠ

1915 Motorman & Conductor (Detroit) May 22/1 Then, upon the ruins, raise by force a socialist state, wherein the cultured as well as the experts in every walk of life would carry out the edict of the mob boss.

1977 Hongkong Standard 12 Apr. 9/3 He was said to be a senior triggerman—an overseer of ‘hit men’—for reputed mob boss Anthony ‘Big Tuna’ Accardo.

1991 Time 17 June 11/1 He has been described as the most vicious Mob boss of his generation.

2017 L. McShane & D. Pearson Last Don Standing i. 5 Natale could have walked free if only he chose to rat out associates such as revered Philly mob boss Angelo ‘the Docile Don’ Bruno.

mob cause n. rare

ΚΠ

1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius No. 47 I do not intend to enumerate all the strong holds of this prevailing mob-cause [sc. High-Church].

1991 Fides et Historia 23 92 Gilje's somewhat simplistic view of class conflict in the emerging urban place does not enhance the understanding of mob cause and public response.

mob-condemnation n.

ΚΠ

1833 Olio 2 Mar. 40/2 Being on good terms with the goose..on Michaelmas day, and because his citadel is thereby defended, he is a fit person for theatric, or mob, condemnation,—to hiss an unpopular candidate at an election.

1929 D. H. Lawrence Pornogr. & Obscenity 9 When it comes to the so-called obscene words,..the first reaction is almost sure to be mob-reaction, mob-indignation, mob-condemnation.

2002 J. C. Buthelezi Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Nelson Mandela v. 65 He does not seek the safety of the chorus of mob condemnation of apartheid in the home-bound buses to challenge apartheid. He challenges it in his letter to the Commissioner of Police.

mob control n.

ΚΠ

1848 Examiner 28 Oct. 690/1 I..testify my confidence in the French free institutions, how little soever I might trust the men who administer them under mob control.

1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office (1972) 89 The gun is the primary tool in situations of mob control.

mob culture n.

ΚΠ

1968 L. Durrell Tunc v. 269 A surrogate mob-culture.

1998 Asiaweek (Nexis) 27 Nov. 6 The rabble-related rapes that took place in Indonesia..are hideous examples of the extremes of mob culture.

mob-emotion n.

ΚΠ

1892 Albany Law Jrnl. 25 June 540/1 A distasteful verdict is a powerful stimulant to mob emotion.

1917 H. L. Mencken Bk. of Pref. i. 61 There is a notion that judgments of living artists are impossible. They are bound to be corrupted, we are told, by prejudice, false perspective, mob emotion, error.

1928 D. H. Lawrence Woman who rode Away & Other Stories 231 A steam of wet mob-emotions!

2002 J. D. Walters Hope for Better World (2003) v. 84 The best thing that mob emotion can produce may be the shout, ‘Somebody ought to do something!’ The worst is wanton rampage and ruin.

mob enforcer n.

ΚΠ

1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 134 Within a year control of the New York numbers racket passed into the dominion of a mob enforcer.

1986 S. Churcher N.Y. Confidential x. 242 No one eating at the time saw nothin' when mob enforcer Salvatore ‘Sally Bugs’ Briguglio..was obliterated with a volley of shots on the sidewalk outside.

† mob-fancy n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1841 C. Mackay Mem. Pop. Delusions I. 329 It tickled the mob-fancy mightily.

† mob favour n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi III. x. iii. 267 Too vulgar a desire of mob favour.

mob fever n.

ΚΠ

1933 Jrnl. Business Univ. Chicago 6 286 The insane rush of capital into investment trusts depicted on the chart is but one example of the workings of financial mob fever.

1935 A. L. James Broadcast Word i. 5 It will have cleansed our political life of its mob-fever.

1993 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 31 Oct. 8 c This jury appears to have accepted mob fever as a valid reason to stomp total strangers.

† mob gentry n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 228 The assurance with which I deliver'd this, gave the Mob Gentry a Check.

mob government n.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > rule of any class or persons > [noun] > of the mob

ochlocratia1584

ochlocracy1594

mob government1703

mobocracy1754

mob law1809

mob-rule1837

pollarchy1853

1703 C. Gildon Patriot i. i. 2 May my Sword ne'r do me Right,..If ever I submit to this Mob Government.

1835 T. Walker Original No. 1. 3 By the Ochlocratic principle, I mean the principle of mob government, or government by too large masses.

1981 Amer. Hist. Rev. 86 207/1 The social eruptions of the era that raised the specter of mob government.

mob hysteria n.

ΚΠ

1895 W. James Let. 24 Dec. (1920) II. 28 Three days of fighting mob-hysteria at Washington can at any time undo peace habits of a hundred years.

1992 Jrnl. Negro Hist. 77 1 Are these just isolated cases of mob hysteria? Not on your life.

† mob-idol n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

a1849 H. Coleridge Ess. & Marginalia (1851) II. 169 Nelson was a mob-idol indeed.

mob indignation n. rare

ΚΠ

1929 D. H. Lawrence Pornogr. & Obscenity 9 When it comes to the so-called obscene words,..the first reaction is almost sure to be mob-reaction, mob-indignation, mob-condemnation.

1981 C. Royster Light-Horse Harry Lee iv. 162 None of the officials..wanted to risk the political unpopularity or mob indignation that would have followed from calling out a large militia.

mob leader n.

ΚΠ

1834 New Monthly Mag. May 59 In their ambition to be mob-leaders, they were, in fact, mob-led.

1849 J. O. O'Connell Recoll. Parl. Career I. v. 104 Feargus O'Connor carried the election... He was everywhere and everything;—speechifier,..gutter-agent, mob leader.

1986 ELH 53 804 Combining the extremes of the social hierarchy, aristocrat and mob leader..he is..a link between the upper class and the underworld.

mob madness n.

ΚΠ

1861 Latter-Day Saints Millennial Star 3 Aug. 482/1 In the present age it prompted the descendants of these same persecuted ones to rise in mob-madness and fiercely persecute the Saints of God.

1901 E. A. Ross Social Control xiii. 147 Mob-madness leads men captive to the impressions of the moment.

1925 Amer. Hist. Rev. 31 137 Mass-hysteria, mob-madness, and group-neuroses existed in a more or less acute form in Europe for many years prior to 1914.

2010 M. Faubert in T. Schmid Romanticism & Pleasure iv. 95 The most influential text on mob madness—Charles Mackay's Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds—reveals the social and mental chaos that can ensue when a crowd of people become agitated together.

mob mania n.

ΚΠ

1806 T. Moore Epistles, Odes 269 If neither chain'd by choice, nor damn'd by fate To the mob-mania which imbrutes her [sc. America] now, She yet can raise the bright but temperate Of single majesty.

1935 L. MacNeice Poems 60 Mob mania in the air.

mob meeting n.

ΚΠ

1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. i. 41 In all Mob Meetings,..the Entertainment in general is abominable.

1925 Econ. Jrnl. 35 444 Sovereignty cannot reside in a mob-meeting.

2000 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) (Nexis) 15 Mar. 2 d The mob meetings? You're invading a private, nasty world.

mob member n.

ΚΠ

1975 Sunday Sun (Toronto, Ont.) 25 May 17 ‘Soldiers’ or ‘button men’—the Mob members who carry out the orders of the bosses.

1990 Vanity Fair 113/1 RICO indictments..have filled the prisons with Mob members.

mob mind n.

ΚΠ

1896 L. F. Ward Let. 4 May in Amer. Sociol. Rev. (1938) June 395 I have had something to say about his [sc. Franklin H. Giddings's] ‘social mind’, and I shall be very glad to read your [sc. E. A. Ross's] lecture on ‘mob mind’. I see a great difference between the two.

1933 Ess. & Stud. 18 61 After half a century's work on the mob-mind psychologists are agreed that a crowd is an entirely different problem from an individual.

1982 Callaloo 14 77 And yet it has set these idées fixes in the mob mind.

mob movement n.

ΚΠ

1867 Cornhill Mag. Nov. 610 They prevented it [sc. the Reformation] from becoming a mere mob movement, which must have destroyed civilization.

1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xvi. 338 But revolution is not a mob-movement.

1951 R. Stevenson in Jrnl. Mod. Hist. (1987) 59 491 Ambassador Ralph Stevenson assumed that..the leaders of the Wafd were unlikely to ‘unleash a mob movement’.

mob-orator n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > one who makes a speech or speeches

ditera1387

fair speakera1398

speakerc1400

pronouncer?a1425

orator?a1439

oratrice1565

oratress1587

rhetor1588

oratrix?1592

tongue-man1594

tonguesman1596

public speaker1646

holder-forth1661

tub-minister1662

spokesman1663

addresser1665

tub-drubbera1704

speech-maker1710

speecher1762

orationer1765

speechifiera1777

mob-orator1814

perorator1827

elocutionist1847

tub-orator1849

spokester1850

patterer1851

platformer1851

oratist1860

stem-winder1875

addressor1897

pep talker1925

society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > sedition > [noun] > seditious person > rabble-rouser or demagogue

demagogue1649

mob-drivera1734

mob-orator1814

rabble-rouser1831

hatemonger1916

1814 S. T. Coleridge in Courier 29 Sept. 3/6 Commissary, denouncer, accuser, and mob-orator.

1965 Punch 13 Jan. 55/1 Hitler the rabble-rouser, Hitler the mob-orator.

mob-oratory n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > for specific occasion, purpose, or cause

bar-oratorya1754

mob-oratory1846

stumping1865

keynoting1889

soap-boxing1919

Limehousing1920

tub-thumpery1927

soap-box1928

1846 Fraser's Mag June 730/1 Without the aid of those stronger and more stirring stimulants to the passions which form the very essence of successful mob-oratory.

1961 John o' London's 9 Nov. 517/2 His [sc. Hitler's] megalomaniac mob-oratory.

1989 Amer. Hist. Rev. 94 485/1 Steidle was a thoroughly unpleasant vulgarian with a certain talent for mob oratory.

† mob parliament n. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1770 H. Walpole Let. 22 Jan. (1967) XXIII. 181 Must we pass through a mob parliament to confusion?

† mob petition n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 332 The Mob Petition from Bucks was presented to the King.

mob principle n.

ΚΠ

?1710 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1873) II. 337 Mob-Principles we do Condemn.

1884 Cent. Mag. July 461 Bands of men calling themselves Ku Klux continued to regulate affairs in the South, on secret mob principles.

1909 Mining Investor 24 May 6/3 The possibilities that stretch beyond are vast, and the gamble seems likely. That is the mistake of the mob principle.

1973 L. B. Davis Immigrants, Baptists, & Protestant Mind Amer. ii. 55 Reverend Willard W. Boyd..charged that most rebels against the laws of property had received training in Communist and socialist tactics in Europe. These ideologies had roots in the mob principle, Boyd argued.

mob psychology n.

ΚΠ

1896 W. James Let. 11 June (1920) II. 36 The really bad thing here is the silly wave that has gone over the public mind—protection humbug, silver, jingoism, etc. It is a case of ‘mob-psychology’.

1987 N. Blei Neighbourhood xiv. 87 Mob psychology..people poetry..mass movement..what do you call it?

mob reaction n.

ΚΠ

1929 D. H. Lawrence Pornogr. & Obscenity 9 When it comes to the so-called obscene words,..the first reaction is almost sure to be mob-reaction, mob-indignation, mob-condemnation.

1939 Jrnl. Southern Hist. 5 222 The deep-seated feeling of insecurity characterizing the slaveholder's society evoked such mob reactions.

† mob-sensation n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1929 J. Galsworthy in Story-Teller Mag. Aug. 597/2 Impervious by nature and training to mob-emotion Soames yet was emotionalized. Here was something that was not mere mob-sensation.

† mob-storm n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1865 J. D. Burn Three Years among Working-classes in U.S. p. xiii A series of mob-storms would be sure to set in.

† mob-sycophancy n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 9 Nov. 185 A loathing of factious Falsehoods and Mob-sycophancy, i.e. the flattering of the Multitude by informing against their Betters.

1849 J. S. Mill in Westm. & Foreign Q. Rev. 51 16 One hardly expected to hear them taunted with..mob-sycophancy.

mob-tide n.

ΚΠ

1851 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. June 536 Wars of mob-tide surging against power and beauty.

1881 ‘M. Twain’ Prince & Pauper 127 The mob-tide..dashed itself against the champion.

1990 E. H. Chisnall Bell in Tree xii. 45 She stepped back and was swept away by the receding mob tide as it scattered into the shadowy alleys.

2007 B. Moynahan French Cent. vi. 186 The exits from the Chamber had been barricaded against the mob... Then the moment passed, and the mob tide ebbed.

mob violence n.

ΚΠ

1842 Ladies' Repository Feb. 35/1 The blood of the victims of mob violence will God require at the hands of that people among whom they were sacrificed.

1949 R. T. LaPiere & P. R. Farnsworth Social Psychol. (ed. 3) xxv. 471 There is a close relationship between critical social circumstances and mob violence.

1992 Economist 4 Jan. 72/3 Preoccupations..included not only alcohol and sex but..inner-city decay, mob violence..and, above all, sheer greed.

mob warfare n.

ΚΠ

1886 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 710/1 The story of the scramble for place and money, of treason and intrigue and mob warfare, becomes utterly mean and insignificant.

1930 P. G. Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves xi. 302 By the time he had come to the surface, a sort of mob-warfare was going on at the other side of the field.

1999 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 18 Sept. 5 Police have warned a convicted killer suspected of being involved in mob warfare..to give himself up or risk being murdered by a rival gang.

† mob-way n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1809 R. Cumberland John de Lancaster II. 280 A propensity in the town's-folk to..administer tumultuous justice in their own mob-way.

† mob-will n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1845 Fraser's Mag. June 636/1 He would now rather have measures which he approves carried by the force of the old maxims and principles of his forefathers than by mob will.

1924 J. Masefield Sard Harker 51 Never had I thought that my fellow-citizens of Las Palomas would try to impose the mob-will upon the individual.

mob worship n.

ΚΠ

1848 Lord Brougham Let. Marquess of Lansdowne on Late Revol. France (ed. 4) (Postscript) 163 I believe such an avowal of mob worship through fear is unexampled.

1893 E. Dowson Let. c27 Aug. (1967) 288 ‘One View of the Question’, a beautiful piece of satire on English mob-worship.

1922 Musical Times 1 Feb. 101/1 The writer,..expressing a hope that there would be no ‘mob-worship’ of Strauss, need not have worried himself.

1965 P. A. Doyle Pearl S. Buck v. 112 The novel also has a peculiar bloodless quality, due partly to the style, but due also to an attempt to avoid the more realistic aspects of mob worship.

b. Objective.

† mob-adoring adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1828 E. Irving Last Days 304 The hireling press, the mob-adoring press.

† mob-catching adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1780 J. Bentham Let. 12 May (1968) II. 449 For example..the paper I now enclose to you about the number of men to a ship with popular mob-catching remarks.

† mob-fearing adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. II. i. iv. 97 If they are mob-guided, mob-fearing people.

† mob-inspiring adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1782 J. Trumbull MʽFingal (new ed.) iv. 95 And while plebeian signs ascend, Their mob-inspiring aspects bend.

c. Instrumental.

(a)

mob election n.

ΚΠ

1823 T. Moore Fables Holy Alliance 9 Where Kings have been by mob-elections Rais'd to the throne.

1964 Amer. Q. 16 479 If the people chose, nominated and elected their officers, there would be mob elections.

(b)

† mob-created adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1807 Salmagundi 1 Oct. 316 Your true mob-created great man.

1835 W. Irving Beauties of Washington Irving 265 Your true mob-created great man is like a note of one of the little New-England banks, and his value depreciates in proportion to the distance from home.

† mob-guided adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. II. i. iv. 97 If they are mob-guided, mob-fearing people.

mob-led adj. rare

ΚΠ

1834 New Monthly Mag. May 59 In their ambition to be mob-leaders, they were, in fact, mob-led.

2007 C. S. Nevels Lynching to Belong Introd. 1 The first two incidents, in 1896 and 1897, were mob-led lynchings.

C2.

† mob-courtship n. Obsolete the action of courting the masses; (also) courtship among members of the common people (rare).

ΚΠ

1833 United Service Jrnl. June 265 The small shopkeepers, who..would barter the substantial protection they more especially derive from the new police establishment for a speculation of bringing grist to the mill per favour of mob courtship.

1872 Punch 27 Jan. 36/1 A soul above fear of the Rabble he shows; Is that to be said, British Statesman, of you? Or is it that you, whom mob-courtship doth move,..do follow the worse?

1883 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera xc. 167 There are no words strong enough to express the general danger and degradation of the manners of mob-courtship, as distinct from these.

† mob-defence n. Obsolete rare a defence conducted by civilians as opposed to the military.

ΚΠ

1845 W. H. Maxwell Hints to Soldier I. 239 No city..afforded the same advantages, for what might be termed a mob-defence.

† mob-driver n. Obsolete a person who incites a mob.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > sedition > [noun] > seditious person > rabble-rouser or demagogue

demagogue1649

mob-drivera1734

mob-orator1814

rabble-rouser1831

hatemonger1916

a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. iii. §3. 126 Colonel Mildmay, an old Rumper, and late Mob-driver in Essex.

1769 T. Smollett Hist. & Adventures Atom I. 210 He continued to..bribe the tribunes, the centurions, the decuriones, and all the inferior mob-drivers of the empire.

† mob feast n. Obsolete a banquet open to all.Apparently an isolated use.

ΚΠ

1830 T. Moore in Mem. (1854) VI. 150 This is the third dinner..one of the others being a mob feast, at six shillings a-head.

mob law n. †(a) a law imposed by a mob (obsolete); (b) = mob-rule n.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > rule of any class or persons > [noun] > of the mob

ochlocratia1584

ochlocracy1594

mob government1703

mobocracy1754

mob law1809

mob-rule1837

pollarchy1853

1809 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1947) VIII. 804 Motion for Abolishing all Laws, but Mob Laws.

1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 7 May 4/2 Public sentiment has been awakened, and our people realize the evils of mob law.

1990 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 77 869 Elizabeth Cady Stanton..condemned this kind of action as ‘mob law’.

mob-man n. now rare = mobsman n. 2.

ΚΠ

1747 in New Jersey Archives (1883) 1st Ser. 7 428 He discoursing with several of the mobmen,..has heard them [say]..that the King himself was unable to quell mobs in England.

1835 W. E. Bartlett Let. 12 Aug. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1914) 9 160 You may see large companies of worthies marching to and fro, and a mob man, as such, cannot be seen.

1921 Polit. Sci. Q. 36 117 The response will be lukewarm, except in the case of the professional street agitators and mob-men.

1989 J. S. McClelland Crowd & Mob Introd. 26 The fears of the theorists of the crowd before 1914 that all men in the right circumstances were mob men were triumphantly confirmed.

mob-master n. a person who controls a mob.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > of a mob

mob-mastera1734

a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vii. §85. 571 Mob-Masters,..that, upon the Watch-word, are to bring forward some hare-brained Rout, which they call the People.

1941 W. J. Cash Mind of South i. iii. 79 That significant type of people's captain, the fire-eating orator and mob-master.

mob opinion n. an opinion held generally by a mob.

ΚΠ

1769 W. Warburton in A. Pope Epist. Cobham 135 (note) This, though a mere mob-opinion, is the opinion in fashion, and cherished by the Mob of all denominations.

1831 Fraser's Mag. 4 140 [That journal's] truckling, and trimming, and shifting, and debasing servilism to mob opinions.

1988 Representations Autumn 117 Pudd'nhead Wilson translates mob opinion into the rule of law at the conclusion of Twain's novel.

† mob-reader n. Obsolete a reader belonging to the mob; an uneducated reader.Apparently an isolated use.

ΚΠ

1697 J. Dryden Ded. Æneis in tr. Virgil Wks. sig. e3^v Such things as are our Upper-Gallery Audience in a Play-House... These are Mobb-Readers.

mob-rule n. rule imposed and enforced by a mob.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > rule of any class or persons > [noun] > of the mob

ochlocratia1584

ochlocracy1594

mob government1703

mobocracy1754

mob law1809

mob-rule1837

pollarchy1853

1837 Southern Literary Messenger June 348/2 Demagogue influence, mob rule and even capital execution without trial, make a healthy and courageous land look pale with apprehension.

1869 A. Maclaren Serm. preached in Manch. 2nd Ser. vii. 123 The willing spirit sets us free,..free from the mob rule of Passions and Appetites.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 141/2 Their rule was mostly judicious, and when at last they lost control the ensuing mob-rule soon ruined the country.

1984 Daily Express 21 July 8/1 There is a certain satisfaction seeing the mob-rule militants clobbered by their own weapons.

mob scene n. a crowd scene, esp. in a film or play; also in extended use.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > scene > type of scene or act

monologuec1550

monology1608

night scene1683

mad scene1741

drop-scene1815

recognition scene1838

carpenter's-scene1860

scène à faire1884

mob scene1890

sex scene1915

curtain1928

1890 Overland Monthly Mar. 319 There is a strike and a mob scene as the climax of the story.

1908 Variety 30 May 11 When a mob scene is shown a carefully rehearsed crowd of supers will be present to make the appropriate noises.

1992 Canad. Living 1 Dec. 171 Now the mob scenes at the big pine kitchen table will give way to candlelit dîners-à-deux in a more intimate setting.

† mob story n. Obsolete rare a story circulating among the populace; a rumour.

ΚΠ

1716 J. Addison Freeholder No. 9. ⁋12 Do you..believe the mob-story, that King George designs to make a bridge of boats from Hannover to Wapping?

Derivatives

ˈmoblike adj.

ΚΠ

1796 W. Cooke Conversation iii. 34 That mob~like education of the streets.

1895 S. Crane Red Badge of Courage iv. 50 A sketch in gray and red dissolved into a moblike body of men who galloped like wild horses.

1992 Amer. Jrnl. Polit. Sci. 36 997 Agile demagogues will play on hatreds and weaknesses to fabricate a vindictive moblike tyranny of the majority.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

mobv.²

Brit.

/mɒb/, U.S.

/mɑb/

Forms: 1600s– mob, 1900s– marb (U.S. regional).

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mob n.²

Etymology: < mob n.²

a. transitive. To attack or surround in, or as in, a mob; to crowd round and molest or harass; to throng. Later also: to crowd round or press upon (a celebrity, etc.) in adulation or acclamation.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > in a riot

rabble1661

scour1681

mob1696

small-gang1851

riot1886

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > crowd together > crowd upon > in a disorderly manner

mob1696

1696 W. Gilpin Let. 1 Apr. in D. R. Hainsworth Corr. J. Lowther (1983) 270 Being unwilling to be mobbed..I stayed at home.

1709 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) VI. 494 Last week a corn factor..had like to have been mobb'd.

1717 D. Defoe Mem. Church of Scotl. ii. 93 They mobbed the Presbytery, beat and very ill treated..the Moderator.

1719 Rec. Colony Rhode Island (1859) IV. 259 'Tis very wonderful to me..that none of His Majesty's officers of the custom, have been mobbed, and torn in pieces by the rabble.

1761 G. G. Beekman Let. 23 Mar. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 374 You Cannot Imagin How Our Caractor Suffers here for want of those accounts. The Sailors are Ready to Mob us.

1810 Sporting Mag. 36 262 The crowd were very abusive, following us, and mobbing us.

1828 T. B. Macaulay in Edinb. Rev. May 361 Whenever any tolerable book of the same description makes its appearance, the circulating libraries are mobbed.

1882 Lady Wilde Let. 18 Sept. in R. Ellmann Oscar Wilde (1987) vii. 181 You are still the talk of London... I think you will be mobbed when you come back by eager crowds.

1884 Manch. Examiner 4 Oct. 4/7 The Alcade of the town having made himself obnoxious to the people, they mobbed the Courthouse.

1894 S. Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. 63 The populace..mobbed and derided him in the streets.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xii. [Cyclops] 306 The Santry boy was declared victor to the frenzied cheers of the public who broke through the ringropes and fairly mobbed him with delight.

1944 Current Biogr. 1943 700/1 Sinatra gets mobbed by semi-hysterical audiences, and receives at least six proposals each week in his fan mail.

1979 Financial Rev. (Austral.) 12 Jan. 31/1 Coal-mining companies are practically mobbing the few customers who are currently buying.

1990 B. Purdie Politics in Streets (BNC) 210 A number of demonstrators tried to get through the police cordon round the prime minister and mobbed and pounded his car.

†b. transitive. In passive. Of a person: to be forced into an action, etc., or driven from a place, by the persuasion or aggression of a mob or other group of people. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > to or into an action or state > by violence

riot1661

mob1720

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 168 The King was obliged to leave them..for fear of being mobbed into something..unworthy of himself.

1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 7 Between one and another, I was fairly mobbed into it.

1861 W. Phillips Disunion 6 Throughout half the great cities of the North, every one who touches on it [sc. the slavery question] is mobbed into silence!

1863 W. Phillips Speeches 58 George Thompson was mobbed from this platform.

c. transitive. Animal Behaviour. Of a bird or other animal: to approach noisily and aggressively so as to drive off (a predator or other source of threat), esp. as part of a group.In quot. 1854 coloured by sense 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [verb (transitive)] > mob

mob1854

1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 25 Mob, to taunt, to abuse... Often applied to the noise which small birds make at the sight of a hawk or a cat.

1862 A. S. Atkinson Jrnl. 22 Aug. in Richmond–Atkinson Papers (1960) I. xiii. 782 Old Potatau had likened himself to a ruru mobbed by a flock of popokateas.

1927 E. M. Nicholson How Birds Live vii. 87 An owl appears and is surrounded by a clamorous crowd of small birds which proceed to mob it.

1936 Brit. Birds 30 28 Usually when seen it was sitting in a tree, and it was much ‘mobbed’ by Rooks.

1965 P. Wayre Wind in Reeds v. 62 The falcon, sometimes..accompanied by the tiercel, would fly out and mob us.

1990 D. Morris Animalwatching (1991) (BNC) 92 Snakes have been mobbed from time to time by groups of ground squirrels.

†a. transitive. With it: to join or associate with the crowd, esp. in order to watch a theatrical production from the gallery; to frequent low company. Also intransitive in same sense. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > become degraded or debased [verb (intransitive)] > accept inferior standards

mob1772

slum1928

1699 E. Ward London Spy I. vii. 16 The unfortunate Madams..were forc'd to Mob it on foot with the rest of their Sisters.

1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions iv. 43 I don't wonder such as these go a mobbing among those meanest of mad Things call'd Free-Masons; rough Cheats, and confess'd Delusions are the fittest things to amuse them.

1772 Town & Country Mag. 85/2 At the play one night with the Freemans, mobbing it in the gallery.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. v. i. 9 Warrant I'll mob with the best of them!

1824 M. M. Sherwood Lady of Manor II. ix. 85 I don't want you to make your appearance, I want to go incognito, to mob it, you know, to go in masquerade, and sit in the gallery.

1837 New Monthly Mag. 51 36 He cannot mob it to see a play in the pit.

b. intransitive. To form a mob, to congregate in a mob. Also transitive with it. Now British colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of people or animals > in large numbers > in disorderly manner

mob1711

1711 E. Ward Vulgus Britannicus (ed. 3) iii. 96 For those that Mob, like noisy Knaves, Against the Law, with Clubs and Staves.

1728 T. Woolston Disc. Miracles iv. 61 If they did mob it to their own disappointment, about the Door of the House.

1753 S. Foote Englishman in Paris i. 17 They ha'nt Spirit enough to mob here.

1826 T. Hood Fairy Tale v With dusty hides, all mobbing on together.

1840 T. Hood Miss Kilmansegg ii, in New Monthly Mag. 60 259 As many more Mob round the door, To see them going to see it!

1887 G. Meredith Let. Feb. (1970) II. 853 Londoners,..ladies, dandies, mild revolutionists, total subversives, would mob together.

1926 D. Hammett in Black Mask Feb. 67/1 You're not a bad lad, Scuttle,..but don't count on me mobbing up with you.

1990 E. Boland Outside Hist. 20 These shadows in their shadow-bodies, Chittering and mobbing On the far Shore..are The dead.

1991 S. Fry Liar (1992) v. 165 Adrian has seen him mobbing around with his friends as if nothing had happened.

1999 J. King in S. Champion Fortune Hotel 166 A Chelsea boy..ducked in and passed the word along that everyone was mobbing up at the end of the street.

c. spec. Australian and New Zealand. Of sheep and (occasionally) of other animals: to gather in a mob. Also with up. Cf. mob n.² 6a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animals collectively > [verb (intransitive)] > form a herd

herd1393

mob1878

1878 E. R. Chudleigh Diary 10 Mar. (1950) 267 Spent some hours driving the main mob of sheep from the fence where they mob day and night.

1958 N.Z. Young Farmer 10 No. 14. 114 When the shepherd is riding round the ewes they tend to move in front of him and mob up in a corner of the paddock.

1981 M. Anderson Both Sides of River 78 When the strings of sheep were mobbing on Jack's Flat, the end of the muster was in sight.

3. transitive. Chiefly regional (British and U.S.). To abuse or scold; to rail at. Also intransitive.

ΚΠ

1786 J. Wolcot Bozzy & Piozzi 30 And terrors too, that of my peace, did rob me–For much I fear'd the moralist would mob me.

1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 25 He mobbed her well.

1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens 69 He began to mob Harvey, and said they oughter brought me in afore.

1903 Longman's Mag. July 253 Let her mob, she'll sune get tired.

1936 Amer. Speech 11 191 The father sure did marb because the baby got hurt. He thought the women should take better care of it.

1989 L. Clarke Chymical Wedding 316 But there have been raised voices thereabouts and the parson driven to bad language by the woman's mobbin' him so.

†4. transitive. To cause to mix up with a group or mob. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.

ΚΠ

1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess vi. 136 That Which..drags me down From my fixt height to mob me up with all The soft and milky rabble of womankind.

5. transitive. Fox-hunting. To surround and kill (a fox). Cf. mobbing n. 2. rare.

ΚΠ

1873 R. E. Egerton-Warburton Hunting Songs (new ed.) 189 A straight fox mobb'd and headed by the laggards in the lane.

1901 Encycl. Sport II. 582/2 Mob, to surround and kill a fox, without giving him the chance of a run.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	mob
释义	mobn.¹ Brit. /mɒb/, U.S. /mɑb/ Forms: 1600s– mob, 1700s mobb. Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: mab n.¹ Etymology: Variant of mab n.¹; perhaps compare earlier moble v.With sense 3, compare later mob cap n. †1. slang. A promiscuous woman; a prostitute. Also: a dirty or untidy woman. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute meretrixOE whoreOE soiled dovea1250 common womanc1330 putec1384 bordel womanc1405 putaina1425 brothelc1450 harlot?a1475 public womanc1510 naughty pack?1529 draba1533 cat1535 strange woman1535 stew1552 causey-paikera1555 putanie?1566 drivelling1570 twigger1573 punka1575 hackney1579 customer1583 commodity1591 streetwalker1591 traffic1591 trug1591 hackster1592 polecat1593 stale1593 mermaid1595 medlar1597 occupant1598 Paphian1598 Winchester goose1598 pagan1600 hell-moth1602 aunt1604 moll1604 prostitution1605 community1606 miss1606 night-worm1606 bat1607 croshabell1607 prostitute1607 pug1607 venturer1607 nag1608 curtal1611 jumbler1611 land-frigate1611 walk-street1611 doll-common1612 turn-up1612 barber's chaira1616 commonera1616 public commonera1616 trader1615 venturea1616 stewpot1616 tweak1617 carry-knave1623 prostibule1623 fling-dusta1625 mar-taila1625 night-shadea1625 waistcoateera1625 night trader1630 coolera1632 meretrician1631 painted ladya1637 treadle1638 buttock1641 night-walker1648 mob?1650 lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651 lady of pleasure1652 trugmullion1654 fallen woman1659 girlc1662 high-flyer1663 fireship1665 quaedama1670 small girl1671 visor-mask1672 vizard-mask1672 bulker1673 marmalade-madam1674 town miss1675 town woman1675 lady of the night1677 mawks1677 fling-stink1679 Whetstone whore1684 man-leech1687 nocturnal1693 hack1699 strum1699 fille de joie1705 market-dame1706 screw1725 girl of (the) town1733 Cytherean1751 street girl1764 monnisher1765 lady of easy virtue1766 woman (also lady) of the town1766 kennel-nymph1771 chicken1782 stargazer1785 loose fish1809 receiver general1811 Cyprian1819 mollya1822 dolly-mop1834 hooker1845 charver1846 tail1846 horse-breaker1861 professional1862 flagger1865 cocodette1867 cocotte1867 queen's woman1871 common prostitute1875 joro1884 geisha1887 horizontal1888 flossy1893 moth1896 girl of the pavement1900 pross1902 prossie1902 pusher1902 split-arse mechanic1903 broad1914 shawl1922 bum1923 quiff1923 hustler1924 lady of the evening1924 prostie1926 working girl1928 prostisciutto1930 maggie1932 brass1934 brass nail1934 mud kicker1934 scupper1935 model1936 poule de luxe1937 pro1937 chromo1941 Tom1941 pan-pan1949 twopenny upright1958 scrubber1959 slack1959 yum-yum girl1960 Suzie Wong1962 mattress1964 jamette1965 ho1966 sex worker1971 pavement princess1976 parlour girl1979 crack whore1990 ?1650 L. Price Merry Mans Resol. ii Mobs to pick up Cullies, a night walking do go. 1653 Mercurius Democritus No. 63. 498 The Northern Gentleman speaking in his Country Tone, Mr. Constable mistaking him for a Scotch mon, sent him, his friend, and the poor Mob to Ratcatchers Hall. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 192 When a Mob he has bit, his Cole he will tell. 1697 N. Lee Princess of Cleve Prol. The little Mob, the City Wastcoateer. ?a1700 North Countrey-Taylor (broadside ballad) 1 Meeting with one of the City Mobs, who made him believe she was a maid. 1705 Mountebank-Song in Academy of Complements 148 Here are People and Sports, Of all size and sorts, Coach'd Damsel with Squire, And Mob in the Mire, Tarpaulins, trugmallions. a1728 W. Kennett MS Coll. Provinc. Words in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1905) IV. 139/1 [Kent] She is a strange mob. 1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Mob, or Mab, a wench, or harlot. †2. A loose informal garment for a woman; = dishabille n. 2. Also mob-dress. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > negligent disarray1590 mob1665 dishabille1673 undress1683 1665 R. Head Eng. Rogue I. sig. F5^v Their Mobs, Scarfs, and Hoods all rent. 1709 Brit. Apollo 25–30 Nov. It shines..As Beauty does, tho' in a Mob-Dress. 1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 13 Dec. (1948) I. 123 The ladies were all in mobbs; how do you call it? undrest. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 302. ¶11 Wrapping Gowns and dirty Linnen, with all that huddled Oeconomy of Dress which passes under the general Name of a Mob. 1743 E. Purefoy Let. 23 Feb. in G. Eland Purefoy Lett. (1931) I. vi. 143 I hope the maid will do if she can sow well, that is to work fine plain worke as mobs and rufles. 3. = mob cap n. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > worn for specific purpose > indoor cap for women coifa1500 mob1736 mob cap1785 mab1790 mab-cap1829 1736 E. Verney Let. 15 July in M. M. Verney Verney Lett. Eighteenth Cent. (1930) II. xxvi. 140 Dear Aunt... I have only sent one of your Mobbs that if there should be any faults the rest may be amended. 1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. vi. 53 Her head-dress was a Brussels-lace mob, peculiarly adapted to the charming air and turn of her features. 1793 G. Steevens Note on Hamlet ii. ii, in Plays of Shakespeare (rev. ed.) XV. 144 In the counties of Essex and Middlesex, this morning cap has always been called—a mob, and not a mab. My spelling of the word therefore agrees with its most familiar pronunciation. 1805 Sporting Mag. 26 221 Some ladies talking of the revived fashionable headdress—mobs. 1830 A. E. Bray Fitz of Fitz-ford II. xi. 206 A neat little old woman, wearing a close mob and pinners. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 139/1 Mob, a morning cap; a close cap worn by women, coming over the ears and meeting and tying under the chin. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). mobn.²adv. Brit. /mɒb/, U.S. /mɑb/ Forms: 1600s–1700s mobb, 1600s– mob, 1700s mob. (with point). Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: mobile n.² Etymology: Shortened < mobile n.²Compare the following:1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 135. ⁋10 It is perhaps this Humour of speaking no more than we needs must which has so miserably curtailed some of our Words,..as in mob. rep. pos. incog. and the like.a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vii. §89. 574 The Rabble first changed their Title, and were called the Mob in the Assemblies of this [the King's Head] Club. It was their Beast of Burthen, and called first, mobile vulgus, but fell naturally into the Contraction of one Syllable.1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. li Abbreviations exquisitely refined; as Pozz for Positive, Mobb for Mobile. In quot. 1688¹ at sense 1a, punning on mob n.¹ 1. a. A disorderly or riotous crowd, a rabble. ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > disorder or riot > [noun] > one who creates a disturbance or rioter > crowd of routc1300 rabblea1398 rebel rout1648 mob1688 society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > the rabble > a rabble ginga1275 frapaillec1330 rabblea1398 rascal1415 rafflea1450 mardlec1480 rabblement1543 riff-raff1570 rabble rout?1589 scum1597 skim1606 tumult1629 rebel rout1648 mob1688 drabble1789 attroopment1795 scuff1856 shower1936 1688 T. Shadwell Squire of Alsatia iv. i. 59 Here honest Mob, course this Whore to some purpose. 1688 Verney Mem. (1899) 13 Dec. IV. 447 The Mobb carried away the very boards and rafters. 1715 Boston News-let. 21 Feb. 2/1 On the Evening of the day the King was Crown'd, the Mobb got up at Bristol, and very much Insulted the Dissenting Party as they met any of them in the Street. 1774 G. Morris in J. Sparks Life G. Morris (1832) I. 25 We shall be under the domination of a riotous mob. 1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 125 Lord George Gordon..having..raised a mob (excuse the term, it is still in use here) which pulled down all our prisons. View more context for this quotation 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 559 The army had become a mob. 1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People (1878) x. 729 When mobs were roaring themselves hoarse for ‘Wilkes and liberty’. 1897 E. A. Ross in Appletons' Pop. Sci. Monthly July 390 Great mental instability marks the true mob. 1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xvii. 290 My dear Hewet, do you wish us both to be flung out of the hotel by an enraged mob of Thornburys and Elliots? 1931 E. S. Bogardus Fund. Social Psychol. (ed. 2) xxv. 315 A mob is a crowd in a very high state of suggestibility. 1959 M. M. Gill & M. G. Brenman Hypnosis ix. 293 Such people are sometimes said to be hypnotized. They show regressive phenomena similar to those revealed by a mob. 1990 Daily Mail 10 Mar. 1/1 Twenty mounted police chased the mob up Brixton Hill. †b. A member of a mob. Obsolete.Only in theatrical use for stage directions, etc. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > the rabble > one belonging to the rabble ribalderc1400 rascalc1475 rascaller?1518 riff-raff1602 tag-rag1609 rascabilian1616 mob1703 rag-tag1802 1701 E. Settle Virgin Prophetess v. 36 (stage direct.) Enter the Mob of Troy half Drunk. 1st M. Huzzah, come along Boys... 2d M. Well, here will be roaring Doings to Night.] 1703 W. Burnaby Love Betray'd v. 51 (stage direct.) Enter Two Souldiers, and one of the Mob. Mob. That's he! That's he! Knock him down, while I call the Captain. 1706 G. Farquhar Recruiting Officer (ed. 2) ii. 18 Enter Kite, with a Mob in each Hand drunk. 1780 F. Pilon Siege Gibraltar facing sig. B Characters... 3rd Soldier, Mr. Wewitzer. 1st Mob. Mr. Jones. 2d Mob. Mr. Ledger [etc.]. ?1858 T. Taylor Going to Bad II. i. 39 1st Mob..Go it, my little biled lobster. 2. a. colloquial. A large crowd or group of people; esp. a group of people sharing distinctive characteristics or a common identity or occupation. Also: a clique or gang.In Australian usage from the late 19th cent. often applied to a gang of workmen. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > of people or animals > regarded as a whole or a body of people gathered > large or numerous > diverse mob1688 zoo1885 1688 Capt. Southouse Taking K. James (B.M. Add. MS 32091–96) f. 3 These Gent. mob [apparently the king and his friends] were much perplex'd to get a coach. 1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Cock & Fox in Fables 235 Fancy..Compounds a Medley of disjointed Things, A Mob of Coblers, and a Court of Kings. a1704 T. Brown Declam. Praise Wealth in Wks. (1707) I. i. 126 The Applauses the Mob of Quality gave to the Dons Oration. 1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. i. 7 But for the Wits of either Charles's days, The Mob of Gentlemen who wrote with Ease; Sprat, Carew, Sedley, and a hundred more. 1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 54 Earth's genuine Sons, the Sceptred, and the Slave, A mingled Mob! a wandring Herd! 1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 206 Train him in public with a mob of boys. View more context for this quotation 1804 Sydney Gaz. 15 Apr. 2 The writer..strenuously recommends the dispersion of the Little Chuck Farthing Mob that generally assembles at one of the wharfs in the course of the afternoon. 1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab v. 62 Gold: Before whose image bow..The mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and kings. 1848 Atlas (Sydney) 4 379/1 The electors of Geelong and Portland have been disfranchised by a Melbourne mob. 1852 Austral. & N.Z. Gaz. 10 Jan. 11/2 In Major Hornbrook's words ‘the Stedfast's mob is a much jollier mob than that of the Duke of Bronte.’ 1860 G. Duppa in S. S. Crawford Sheep & Sheepmen Canterbury (1949) v. 48 Commence shearing with a strong mob of shearers. 1875 A. Helps Party-spirit in Ess. 100 Those who think whatever the little mob in which they live pleases to think. 1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. i. iv. 70 We've only to advertise, to get a mob of people after it. 1907 W. H. Koebel Return of Joe 257 [He] had but a few hours ago formed one of their ‘mob’, and [was] the most skilful bushwhacker in the district. 1933 D. Runyon in Collier's 28 Jan. 41/2 ‘Especially’, he says, ‘in saving a few souls to build up her mob at the mission.’ 1941 Coast to Coast 214 The mob around the bar was thinning down, with chaps grabbing their bundles and going off home. 1956 R. Stout Before Midnight 158 A mob of experts was expertizing in every direction. 1971 D. Bagley Freedom Trap iii. 62 This is a very exclusive mob; very picky and choosy. 1996 D. Brimson & E. Brimson Everywhere we Go vi. 79 On the day of the match we had a mob of about 250 lads heading to Middlesbrough for revenge. b. In extended use: a collection, crowd, or mass (of things). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > heterogeneous miscellanea1565 caravan1623 mob1728 1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 55 She sees a mob of Metaphors advance. 1745 E. Young Consolation 72 'Twill not make One amid a Mob of Thoughts. 1791 T. Paine Rights of Man i. 117 His intention was to make an attack on the French Revolution; but instead of proceeding with an orderly arrangement, he has stormed it with a Mob of ideas, tumbling over and destroying one another. 1844 Port Phillip Patriot (Melbourne) 22 July 2/6 They buttoned up in front; the only suit in the mob which did so. 1892 G. Parker Round Compass Austral. v. 72 My wife..insisted on my carrying this book to you..and if it was in your mob of books, to give this copy to somebody that would appreciate it. 1902 J. Conrad Heart of Darkness ii, in Youth 105 The broadening waters flowed through a mob of wooded islands. 1948 R. Ellmann Yeats (1949) iv. 41 He was besieged by a mob of ideas, uncertainties, and passions. 1994 Denver Post 2 Jan. t6/4 In northern Pakistan, four of the world's greatest mountain ranges collide in a wild mob of jagged peaks. c. Australian colloquial. In plural. Great quantities, a large amount, masses (of something). Also as adv.: in a great degree, very much. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > (a) great quantity or amount felec825 muchc1230 good wone1297 plentyc1300 bushelc1374 sight1390 mickle-whata1393 forcea1400 manynessa1400 multitudea1400 packc1400 a good dealc1430 greata1450 sackful1484 power1489 horseloadc1500 mile1508 lump1523 a deal?1532 peckc1535 heapa1547 mass1566 mass1569 gallon1575 armful1579 cart-load1587 mickle1599 bushelful1600–12 a load1609 wreck1612 parisha1616 herd1618 fair share1650 heapa1661 muchness1674 reams1681 hantle1693 mort1694 doll?1719 lift1755 acre1759 beaucoup1760 ton1770 boxload1795 boatload1807 lot1811 dollop1819 swag1819 faggald1824 screed1826 Niagara1828 wad1828 lashings1829 butt1831 slew1839 ocean1840 any amount (of)1848 rake1851 slather1857 horde1860 torrent1864 sheaf1865 oodlesa1867 dead load1869 scad1869 stack1870 jorum1872 a heap sight1874 firlot1883 oodlings1886 chunka1889 whips1888 God's quantity1895 streetful1901 bag1917 fid1920 fleetful1923 mob1927 bucketload1930 pisspot1944 shitload1954 megaton1957 mob-o-ton1975 gazillion1978 buttload1988 shit ton1991 1927 M. H. Ellis Long Lead 81 See ‘mobs of scenery’. ‘Mobs’ is the superlative of everything in the Territory. It is the equivalent of superabundance. 1934 A. Russell Tramp-royal in Wild Austral. xiii. 91 There'll be mobs of water on the track, we'll get mobs of beef at the runs, the stages'll be mobs shorter, an' there'll be mobs better camping grounds... And of course we'll be able to take it mobs easier. 1942 C. Barrett On Wallaby iii. 41 Even an offer of..mobs of tucker..failed to gain me a guide. 1986 Sun (Melbourne) 10 Jan. 9/1 How much do you think an incorrect prediction..would cost?.. Great mobs of money. 3. Usually depreciative. With the: the common people; the populace; the masses.This is noted by Swift among the vulgarisms for which he censures Bishop G. Burnet's Hist. Own Time (a1715). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > the common people > [noun] folkc888 peoplea1325 frapec1330 commona1350 common peoplea1382 commonsa1382 commontya1387 communityc1400 meiniec1400 commonaltya1425 commonsa1500 vulgarsa1513 many1526 meinie1532 multitude1535 the many-headed beast (also monster)1537 number1542 ignobility1546 commonitya1550 popular1554 populace1572 popularya1578 vulgarity?1577 populacya1583 rout1589 the vulgar1590 plebs1591 mobile vulgusc1599 popularity1599 ignoble1603 the million1604 plebe1612 plebeity1614 the common filea1616 the herda1616 civils1644 commonality1649 democracy1656 menu1658 mobile1676 crowd1683 vulgusa1687 mob1691 Pimlico parliament?1774 citizenry1795 polloi1803 demos1831 many-headed1836 hoi polloi1837 the masses1837 citizenhood1843 John Q.1922 wimble-wamble1937 society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > the rabble commona1350 rascala1382 rascaldry?1457 routc1475 tag and ragc1535 riff-raff1545 rabble1549 rascabilia1557 rabblement1565 bran1574 rascability1583 rascality1583 canaille1588 canalliary1600 canaglia1607 taga1616 ribble-rabble1635 volge1639 rabble rout1650 tag-rag and bob-tail1660 mobile1676 mobility1690 mob1691 rag-tag (also rag, tag) and bob-tail1725 kennel1726 rough scruff1814 rough scuff1816 tag-rag1826 rascalry1827 rascalment1832 doggery1843 polloi1856 raggle-taggle1958 1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xxiv An idle Notion..that intoxicated the beliefs of the Mob. a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. iii. v. 70 At least he [sc. the Prince of Orange] thought religion was only for the mob. 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 91 She sat among the Mob in the Gallery. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. ix. 50 Refusing to gratify the good-natured Disposition of the Mob. [Note] Whenever this Word occurs in our Writings, it intends Persons without Virtue, or Sense, in all Stations. 1797 R. Southey Lett. from Spain iv. 45 The opinion of this forgiving power vested in the church, will, among the mob of mankind, destroy the motives to virtue. 1831 Ld. Brougham Speeches 7 Oct. (1838) II. 599 I do not mean the populace—the mob: I never have bowed to them. 1868 M. E. Grant Duff Polit. Surv. 143 The mob of the great cities..is hostile to us. 1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxxiii. 430 What usually happens when a poor fellow is put in the pillory?.. The mob try to have some fun with him, don't they? 1951 H. Arendt Burden of our Time i. i. 10 The steady growth of the modern mob—that is of the déclassés of all classes. 1993 Harper's Mag. Dec. 72/3 One ghost is terror of a self-aware, politicized proletariat—the age-old mugwumpish fear that the mob may organize to destroy the last fragile vestiges of civilized life. †4. Usually depreciative. Without article: people forming a crowd or considered as a mass. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > persons of the lowest class (collectively) chenaille1340 offal?a1425 putaylea1425 ribaldail1489 abject1526 offscouring1526 dreg1531 outsweeping1535 braggery1548 ribaldry1550 raff1557 sink1574 cattle1579 offscum1579 rabble1579 baggagery1589 scum1590 waste1592 menialty1593 baggage1603 froth1603 refuse1603 tag-rag1609 retriment1615 trasha1616 recrement1622 silts1636 garbage1648 riffle-raffle1668 raffle1670 riff-raff1678 scurf1688 mob1693 scouring1721 ribble-rabble1771 sweeping1799 clamjamphrie1816 ragabash1823 scruff1836 residuum1851 talent1882 1693 Humours & Conversat. Town 128 A number of undistinguishable mob. 1716 J. Addison Freeholder No. 44. ⁋3 A cluster of mob, who were making themselves merry with their betters. 1751 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 18 Mar. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1699 Every numerous assembly is mob, let the individuals who compose it be what they will. 1789 A. Young Jrnl. 25 July in Trav. France (1792) i. 143 Great riots at Belfort:—last night a body of mob and peasants demanded of the magistrates the arms in the magazine. 5. a. A gang of criminals, esp. thieves. Also: a member of such a gang (now rare).swell mob: see swell adj. c. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > company of thieves school1779 kleptocracy1819 mob1826 flash mob1832 push1866 the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > company of thieves > member of mobsman1843 mob1884 1826 in G. C. Ingleton True Patriots All (1952) 109 The trial of Brady's mob. 1839 H. Brandon Dict. Flash or Cant Lang. in W. A. Miles Poverty, Mendicity & Crime 164/1 Mobs, companions. Working with mobs. Robbing with companions. 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 220/1 Some classes of patterers..work in ‘schools’ or ‘mobs’ of two, three, or four. 1865 Leaves from Diary Celebrated Burglar 28/1 Off we went to the ‘sheeney's’ to bid good-bye to Fobbs and his ‘mob’. 1884 Standard 6 June 6/3 There were about twenty mobs (pickpockets) that never got a rap. 1903 ‘J. Flynt’ Rise Ruderick Clowd (1904) iii. 106 ‘Forty [cents] out of every dollar you cop out—understand?’—‘Who gets the rest?’—‘The mob an' the kitty.’ 1947 Amer. Speech 22 162 Skilled mobs [of grifters] working in prosperous areas will easily gross from $200 to $400 per day. 1951 T. E. B. Clarke (title of film) The Lavender Hill Mob. 1961 M. L. Harney & J. C. Cross Narcotic Officer's Notebk. vi. 118 A purse..was dropped. The ‘sucker’ was allowed to find it right along with a member of the mob. b. spec. originally U.S. An organized association or gang of violent criminals; an organization engaged in large-scale criminal activity. Also (usually as the Mob): the Mafia. ΘΚΠ society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > criminal gang gang1652 mob1927 syndicate1929 connection1969 1927 Amer. Speech 2 385/1 Any kind of a gang was known as a push, a word credited to Australia, but I think it is a sister of the mob of the city underworld. 1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest ix. 91 He was in on the Keystone Trust knock-over in Philly two years ago, when Scissors Haggerty's mob croaked two messengers. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 1 Sept. 1/4 Davis, the broken mouthpiece of the once-powerful Dutch Schultz policy racket, swore..that James J. Hines..was paid thousands of dollars by the mob. 1969 Guardian 24 Jan. 7/6 The Mob from its Chicago headquarters runs the subcontinent. 1975 ‘A. Thackeray’ One Way Ticket 23 Better watch out... It could be the Mafia, the Mob, or whatever they call it these days. 1993 Time Internat. 25 Jan. 29/3 Leolucca Orlando..who now heads an anti-Mafia political party called La Rete, cautions that the Mob still represents a serious threat. 6. a. Australian and New Zealand. A flock, herd, or drove of animals. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > herd or flock herda1000 flockc1200 routc1300 flowinga1382 rabblec1400 meinie1481 many1579 school?1590 plump1591 charm1801 band1824 mob1828 1828 Hobart Town Courier 12 July 2 The wild mob [of cattle]..not content with devouring our grass, walk off with every horn and hoof belonging to us. 1846 G. H. Haydon Five Years Austral. Felix iii. 59 The ‘old men’ kangaroos are always the largest and strongest in the flock, or in colonial language, ‘mob’. 1853 R. Clough Let. 24 Sept. in J. Deans Pioneers of Canterbury (1937) 295 I should like to put all the calvers in one mob. 1875 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1874 7 130 For about 400 birds of this large size to have been roasted in so small a compass in one mob would be a physical impossibility. 1906 ‘J. Oxenham’ John of Gerisau ix. 65 At last..we sighted him [sc. a white colt], galloping quietly along in the centre of the very last mob of all. 1940 Geogr. Jrnl. 95 242 There is now only one firm remaining which has a mob of mules. 1972 P. Newton Sheep Thief ii. 20 The two men had taken out a mob of ewes. 1987 Stock & Land (Melbourne) 18 June 28 I can easily put a mob of cattle through by myself if I have to. †b. Scottish (Shetland). A school of whales. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1898 Shetland News 30 July 5/3 It is believed that this shoal [of whales] consisted of two ‘mobs’. 7. Australian and New Zealand. A community or group of Australian Aboriginal people or Maoris.Typically used without disparaging implication. ΚΠ 1828 Hobart Town Courier 13 Sept. 3 The tribe of natives..consisted of what is generally known as the Big river mob and another united. 1845 N.Z. Company Rep. 19 70 The Pah is small, and occupied by a few Natives, the crops, as I understood, being the property of several ‘mobs’ in different parts of the Sound. 1898 Papers & Proc. Royal Soc. Tasmania 1897 179 Although Robinson dignifies the tribes with the name of ‘nations’, they were known to the settlers by the designation of ‘mobs’. 1911 Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Nov. 14/1 The Abo. Protection officials are doing their best to carry out an unworkable Act..and the niggers have ‘gone walkabout alonga bush’ in mobs. 1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft viii. 155 You may meet the Abo. He may be only a poor specimen on the outskirts of a township, or he may be a ‘mob’ of half-wild blokes in the furthest nor'west. 1984 Aboriginal Hist. 8 37 The old people..use names which link people with parts of the country by reference to pastoral stations. Thus the Nhiiyikiyalu are referred to as the ‘Marfield mob’. 8. Military slang. A body of troops; a battalion, regiment, or other military unit. Also (in extended use): a unit or organization within the police, etc. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > [noun] companyc1325 compartment1590 brigade1637 detachment1678 contingent1728 unit1861 crowd1901 crush1904 mahalla1906 outfit1909 mob1916 serial1941 1916 J. N. Hall Kitchener's Mob i. 1 ‘Kitchener's Mob’ they were called in the early days of August, 1914, when London hoardings were clamorous with the first calls for volunteers. 1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 156 Mob, any collection or body of troops. A very old Army term. 1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 120 Mob, unit, not necessarily in a derogatory sense. ‘What mob are you from, chum?’ 1972 M. Pugh Murmur of Mutiny iv. 34 You must have heard of Sharjah and the Trucial Oman Scouts. This mob is modelled on them. 1975 P. McCutchan Very Big Bang xiii. 125 I'm Yard, you're FO. Use your own mob, Simon. 1985 ‘J. Higgins’ Confessional (1986) viii. 124 Her husband's a major with your old mob. Compounds C1. a. General attributive. mob action n. ΚΠ 1843 Biblical Repertory Jan. 124 The design is to create in the public mind, an obstruction to the execution of a particular sentence of the law..as really involves the principle of mob-action. 1995 Jrnl. Negro Hist. 80 161 Comparing mob action to anti-semitic pogroms of the Dark Ages, he called on Mississippians to stamp out lynching. 2012 A. Siomopoulos Hollywood Melodrama & New Deal ii. 30 Early mob violence films..argue that the reason for mob action is not mass culture but exclusion from it. † mob-assembly n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. ii. §70. 66 This Mob-assembly was drawn together for the Purpose of Terror. † mob-associator n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1750 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. II. 135 These mob-associators broke open houses by night. mob baron n. ΚΠ 1952 B. B. Turkus & S. Feder Murder, Inc. xv. 345 One mob baron..‘moved in’ to the extent that he had his picture taken in a friendly pose with a candidate for the vice-presidency of the United States. 1999 Evening Post (Nottingham) (Nexis) 6 Mar. 2 Demon cardsharp Eddy loses a rigged brag game with the local mob baron. mob behaviour n. ΚΠ 1909 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 14 682 It is a question whether such phenomena as mob behavior, fashion..etc., can best be treated apart from their functional value in the life process of the group. 1992 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 51 92 Local Chinese authorities were not averse..to raising the specter of Boxerism, in the sense of unruly mob behavior..to justify their suppression of anti-imperialist political activity. mob boss n. ΚΠ 1915 Motorman & Conductor (Detroit) May 22/1 Then, upon the ruins, raise by force a socialist state, wherein the cultured as well as the experts in every walk of life would carry out the edict of the mob boss. 1977 Hongkong Standard 12 Apr. 9/3 He was said to be a senior triggerman—an overseer of ‘hit men’—for reputed mob boss Anthony ‘Big Tuna’ Accardo. 1991 Time 17 June 11/1 He has been described as the most vicious Mob boss of his generation. 2017 L. McShane & D. Pearson Last Don Standing i. 5 Natale could have walked free if only he chose to rat out associates such as revered Philly mob boss Angelo ‘the Docile Don’ Bruno. mob cause n. rare ΚΠ 1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius No. 47 I do not intend to enumerate all the strong holds of this prevailing mob-cause [sc. High-Church]. 1991 Fides et Historia 23 92 Gilje's somewhat simplistic view of class conflict in the emerging urban place does not enhance the understanding of mob cause and public response. mob-condemnation n. ΚΠ 1833 Olio 2 Mar. 40/2 Being on good terms with the goose..on Michaelmas day, and because his citadel is thereby defended, he is a fit person for theatric, or mob, condemnation,—to hiss an unpopular candidate at an election. 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pornogr. & Obscenity 9 When it comes to the so-called obscene words,..the first reaction is almost sure to be mob-reaction, mob-indignation, mob-condemnation. 2002 J. C. Buthelezi Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Nelson Mandela v. 65 He does not seek the safety of the chorus of mob condemnation of apartheid in the home-bound buses to challenge apartheid. He challenges it in his letter to the Commissioner of Police. mob control n. ΚΠ 1848 Examiner 28 Oct. 690/1 I..testify my confidence in the French free institutions, how little soever I might trust the men who administer them under mob control. 1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office (1972) 89 The gun is the primary tool in situations of mob control. mob culture n. ΚΠ 1968 L. Durrell Tunc v. 269 A surrogate mob-culture. 1998 Asiaweek (Nexis) 27 Nov. 6 The rabble-related rapes that took place in Indonesia..are hideous examples of the extremes of mob culture. mob-emotion n. ΚΠ 1892 Albany Law Jrnl. 25 June 540/1 A distasteful verdict is a powerful stimulant to mob emotion. 1917 H. L. Mencken Bk. of Pref. i. 61 There is a notion that judgments of living artists are impossible. They are bound to be corrupted, we are told, by prejudice, false perspective, mob emotion, error. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Woman who rode Away & Other Stories 231 A steam of wet mob-emotions! 2002 J. D. Walters Hope for Better World (2003) v. 84 The best thing that mob emotion can produce may be the shout, ‘Somebody ought to do something!’ The worst is wanton rampage and ruin. mob enforcer n. ΚΠ 1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 134 Within a year control of the New York numbers racket passed into the dominion of a mob enforcer. 1986 S. Churcher N.Y. Confidential x. 242 No one eating at the time saw nothin' when mob enforcer Salvatore ‘Sally Bugs’ Briguglio..was obliterated with a volley of shots on the sidewalk outside. † mob-fancy n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1841 C. Mackay Mem. Pop. Delusions I. 329 It tickled the mob-fancy mightily. † mob favour n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi III. x. iii. 267 Too vulgar a desire of mob favour. mob fever n. ΚΠ 1933 Jrnl. Business Univ. Chicago 6 286 The insane rush of capital into investment trusts depicted on the chart is but one example of the workings of financial mob fever. 1935 A. L. James Broadcast Word i. 5 It will have cleansed our political life of its mob-fever. 1993 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 31 Oct. 8 c This jury appears to have accepted mob fever as a valid reason to stomp total strangers. † mob gentry n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 228 The assurance with which I deliver'd this, gave the Mob Gentry a Check. mob government n. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > rule of any class or persons > [noun] > of the mob ochlocratia1584 ochlocracy1594 mob government1703 mobocracy1754 mob law1809 mob-rule1837 pollarchy1853 1703 C. Gildon Patriot i. i. 2 May my Sword ne'r do me Right,..If ever I submit to this Mob Government. 1835 T. Walker Original No. 1. 3 By the Ochlocratic principle, I mean the principle of mob government, or government by too large masses. 1981 Amer. Hist. Rev. 86 207/1 The social eruptions of the era that raised the specter of mob government. mob hysteria n. ΚΠ 1895 W. James Let. 24 Dec. (1920) II. 28 Three days of fighting mob-hysteria at Washington can at any time undo peace habits of a hundred years. 1992 Jrnl. Negro Hist. 77 1 Are these just isolated cases of mob hysteria? Not on your life. † mob-idol n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ a1849 H. Coleridge Ess. & Marginalia (1851) II. 169 Nelson was a mob-idol indeed. mob indignation n. rare ΚΠ 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pornogr. & Obscenity 9 When it comes to the so-called obscene words,..the first reaction is almost sure to be mob-reaction, mob-indignation, mob-condemnation. 1981 C. Royster Light-Horse Harry Lee iv. 162 None of the officials..wanted to risk the political unpopularity or mob indignation that would have followed from calling out a large militia. mob leader n. ΚΠ 1834 New Monthly Mag. May 59 In their ambition to be mob-leaders, they were, in fact, mob-led. 1849 J. O. O'Connell Recoll. Parl. Career I. v. 104 Feargus O'Connor carried the election... He was everywhere and everything;—speechifier,..gutter-agent, mob leader. 1986 ELH 53 804 Combining the extremes of the social hierarchy, aristocrat and mob leader..he is..a link between the upper class and the underworld. mob madness n. ΚΠ 1861 Latter-Day Saints Millennial Star 3 Aug. 482/1 In the present age it prompted the descendants of these same persecuted ones to rise in mob-madness and fiercely persecute the Saints of God. 1901 E. A. Ross Social Control xiii. 147 Mob-madness leads men captive to the impressions of the moment. 1925 Amer. Hist. Rev. 31 137 Mass-hysteria, mob-madness, and group-neuroses existed in a more or less acute form in Europe for many years prior to 1914. 2010 M. Faubert in T. Schmid Romanticism & Pleasure iv. 95 The most influential text on mob madness—Charles Mackay's Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds—reveals the social and mental chaos that can ensue when a crowd of people become agitated together. mob mania n. ΚΠ 1806 T. Moore Epistles, Odes 269 If neither chain'd by choice, nor damn'd by fate To the mob-mania which imbrutes her [sc. America] now, She yet can raise the bright but temperate Of single majesty. 1935 L. MacNeice Poems 60 Mob mania in the air. mob meeting n. ΚΠ 1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. i. 41 In all Mob Meetings,..the Entertainment in general is abominable. 1925 Econ. Jrnl. 35 444 Sovereignty cannot reside in a mob-meeting. 2000 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) (Nexis) 15 Mar. 2 d The mob meetings? You're invading a private, nasty world. mob member n. ΚΠ 1975 Sunday Sun (Toronto, Ont.) 25 May 17 ‘Soldiers’ or ‘button men’—the Mob members who carry out the orders of the bosses. 1990 Vanity Fair 113/1 RICO indictments..have filled the prisons with Mob members. mob mind n. ΚΠ 1896 L. F. Ward Let. 4 May in Amer. Sociol. Rev. (1938) June 395 I have had something to say about his [sc. Franklin H. Giddings's] ‘social mind’, and I shall be very glad to read your [sc. E. A. Ross's] lecture on ‘mob mind’. I see a great difference between the two. 1933 Ess. & Stud. 18 61 After half a century's work on the mob-mind psychologists are agreed that a crowd is an entirely different problem from an individual. 1982 Callaloo 14 77 And yet it has set these idées fixes in the mob mind. mob movement n. ΚΠ 1867 Cornhill Mag. Nov. 610 They prevented it [sc. the Reformation] from becoming a mere mob movement, which must have destroyed civilization. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xvi. 338 But revolution is not a mob-movement. 1951 R. Stevenson in Jrnl. Mod. Hist. (1987) 59 491 Ambassador Ralph Stevenson assumed that..the leaders of the Wafd were unlikely to ‘unleash a mob movement’. mob-orator n. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > one who makes a speech or speeches ditera1387 fair speakera1398 speakerc1400 pronouncer?a1425 orator?a1439 oratrice1565 oratress1587 rhetor1588 oratrix?1592 tongue-man1594 tonguesman1596 public speaker1646 holder-forth1661 tub-minister1662 spokesman1663 addresser1665 tub-drubbera1704 speech-maker1710 speecher1762 orationer1765 speechifiera1777 mob-orator1814 perorator1827 elocutionist1847 tub-orator1849 spokester1850 patterer1851 platformer1851 oratist1860 stem-winder1875 addressor1897 pep talker1925 society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > sedition > [noun] > seditious person > rabble-rouser or demagogue demagogue1649 mob-drivera1734 mob-orator1814 rabble-rouser1831 hatemonger1916 1814 S. T. Coleridge in Courier 29 Sept. 3/6 Commissary, denouncer, accuser, and mob-orator. 1965 Punch 13 Jan. 55/1 Hitler the rabble-rouser, Hitler the mob-orator. mob-oratory n. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > for specific occasion, purpose, or cause bar-oratorya1754 mob-oratory1846 stumping1865 keynoting1889 soap-boxing1919 Limehousing1920 tub-thumpery1927 soap-box1928 1846 Fraser's Mag June 730/1 Without the aid of those stronger and more stirring stimulants to the passions which form the very essence of successful mob-oratory. 1961 John o' London's 9 Nov. 517/2 His [sc. Hitler's] megalomaniac mob-oratory. 1989 Amer. Hist. Rev. 94 485/1 Steidle was a thoroughly unpleasant vulgarian with a certain talent for mob oratory. † mob parliament n. Obsolete ΚΠ 1770 H. Walpole Let. 22 Jan. (1967) XXIII. 181 Must we pass through a mob parliament to confusion? † mob petition n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 332 The Mob Petition from Bucks was presented to the King. mob principle n. ΚΠ ?1710 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1873) II. 337 Mob-Principles we do Condemn. 1884 Cent. Mag. July 461 Bands of men calling themselves Ku Klux continued to regulate affairs in the South, on secret mob principles. 1909 Mining Investor 24 May 6/3 The possibilities that stretch beyond are vast, and the gamble seems likely. That is the mistake of the mob principle. 1973 L. B. Davis Immigrants, Baptists, & Protestant Mind Amer. ii. 55 Reverend Willard W. Boyd..charged that most rebels against the laws of property had received training in Communist and socialist tactics in Europe. These ideologies had roots in the mob principle, Boyd argued. mob psychology n. ΚΠ 1896 W. James Let. 11 June (1920) II. 36 The really bad thing here is the silly wave that has gone over the public mind—protection humbug, silver, jingoism, etc. It is a case of ‘mob-psychology’. 1987 N. Blei Neighbourhood xiv. 87 Mob psychology..people poetry..mass movement..what do you call it? mob reaction n. ΚΠ 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pornogr. & Obscenity 9 When it comes to the so-called obscene words,..the first reaction is almost sure to be mob-reaction, mob-indignation, mob-condemnation. 1939 Jrnl. Southern Hist. 5 222 The deep-seated feeling of insecurity characterizing the slaveholder's society evoked such mob reactions. † mob-sensation n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1929 J. Galsworthy in Story-Teller Mag. Aug. 597/2 Impervious by nature and training to mob-emotion Soames yet was emotionalized. Here was something that was not mere mob-sensation. † mob-storm n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1865 J. D. Burn Three Years among Working-classes in U.S. p. xiii A series of mob-storms would be sure to set in. † mob-sycophancy n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 9 Nov. 185 A loathing of factious Falsehoods and Mob-sycophancy, i.e. the flattering of the Multitude by informing against their Betters. 1849 J. S. Mill in Westm. & Foreign Q. Rev. 51 16 One hardly expected to hear them taunted with..mob-sycophancy. mob-tide n. ΚΠ 1851 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. June 536 Wars of mob-tide surging against power and beauty. 1881 ‘M. Twain’ Prince & Pauper 127 The mob-tide..dashed itself against the champion. 1990 E. H. Chisnall Bell in Tree xii. 45 She stepped back and was swept away by the receding mob tide as it scattered into the shadowy alleys. 2007 B. Moynahan French Cent. vi. 186 The exits from the Chamber had been barricaded against the mob... Then the moment passed, and the mob tide ebbed. mob violence n. ΚΠ 1842 Ladies' Repository Feb. 35/1 The blood of the victims of mob violence will God require at the hands of that people among whom they were sacrificed. 1949 R. T. LaPiere & P. R. Farnsworth Social Psychol. (ed. 3) xxv. 471 There is a close relationship between critical social circumstances and mob violence. 1992 Economist 4 Jan. 72/3 Preoccupations..included not only alcohol and sex but..inner-city decay, mob violence..and, above all, sheer greed. mob warfare n. ΚΠ 1886 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 710/1 The story of the scramble for place and money, of treason and intrigue and mob warfare, becomes utterly mean and insignificant. 1930 P. G. Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves xi. 302 By the time he had come to the surface, a sort of mob-warfare was going on at the other side of the field. 1999 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 18 Sept. 5 Police have warned a convicted killer suspected of being involved in mob warfare..to give himself up or risk being murdered by a rival gang. † mob-way n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1809 R. Cumberland John de Lancaster II. 280 A propensity in the town's-folk to..administer tumultuous justice in their own mob-way. † mob-will n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1845 Fraser's Mag. June 636/1 He would now rather have measures which he approves carried by the force of the old maxims and principles of his forefathers than by mob will. 1924 J. Masefield Sard Harker 51 Never had I thought that my fellow-citizens of Las Palomas would try to impose the mob-will upon the individual. mob worship n. ΚΠ 1848 Lord Brougham Let. Marquess of Lansdowne on Late Revol. France (ed. 4) (Postscript) 163 I believe such an avowal of mob worship through fear is unexampled. 1893 E. Dowson Let. c27 Aug. (1967) 288 ‘One View of the Question’, a beautiful piece of satire on English mob-worship. 1922 Musical Times 1 Feb. 101/1 The writer,..expressing a hope that there would be no ‘mob-worship’ of Strauss, need not have worried himself. 1965 P. A. Doyle Pearl S. Buck v. 112 The novel also has a peculiar bloodless quality, due partly to the style, but due also to an attempt to avoid the more realistic aspects of mob worship. b. Objective. † mob-adoring adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1828 E. Irving Last Days 304 The hireling press, the mob-adoring press. † mob-catching adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1780 J. Bentham Let. 12 May (1968) II. 449 For example..the paper I now enclose to you about the number of men to a ship with popular mob-catching remarks. † mob-fearing adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. II. i. iv. 97 If they are mob-guided, mob-fearing people. † mob-inspiring adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1782 J. Trumbull MʽFingal (new ed.) iv. 95 And while plebeian signs ascend, Their mob-inspiring aspects bend. c. Instrumental. (a) mob election n. ΚΠ 1823 T. Moore Fables Holy Alliance 9 Where Kings have been by mob-elections Rais'd to the throne. 1964 Amer. Q. 16 479 If the people chose, nominated and elected their officers, there would be mob elections. (b) † mob-created adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1807 Salmagundi 1 Oct. 316 Your true mob-created great man. 1835 W. Irving Beauties of Washington Irving 265 Your true mob-created great man is like a note of one of the little New-England banks, and his value depreciates in proportion to the distance from home. † mob-guided adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. II. i. iv. 97 If they are mob-guided, mob-fearing people. mob-led adj. rare ΚΠ 1834 New Monthly Mag. May 59 In their ambition to be mob-leaders, they were, in fact, mob-led. 2007 C. S. Nevels Lynching to Belong Introd. 1 The first two incidents, in 1896 and 1897, were mob-led lynchings. C2. † mob-courtship n. Obsolete the action of courting the masses; (also) courtship among members of the common people (rare). ΚΠ 1833 United Service Jrnl. June 265 The small shopkeepers, who..would barter the substantial protection they more especially derive from the new police establishment for a speculation of bringing grist to the mill per favour of mob courtship. 1872 Punch 27 Jan. 36/1 A soul above fear of the Rabble he shows; Is that to be said, British Statesman, of you? Or is it that you, whom mob-courtship doth move,..do follow the worse? 1883 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera xc. 167 There are no words strong enough to express the general danger and degradation of the manners of mob-courtship, as distinct from these. † mob-defence n. Obsolete rare a defence conducted by civilians as opposed to the military. ΚΠ 1845 W. H. Maxwell Hints to Soldier I. 239 No city..afforded the same advantages, for what might be termed a mob-defence. † mob-driver n. Obsolete a person who incites a mob. ΘΚΠ society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > sedition > [noun] > seditious person > rabble-rouser or demagogue demagogue1649 mob-drivera1734 mob-orator1814 rabble-rouser1831 hatemonger1916 a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. iii. §3. 126 Colonel Mildmay, an old Rumper, and late Mob-driver in Essex. 1769 T. Smollett Hist. & Adventures Atom I. 210 He continued to..bribe the tribunes, the centurions, the decuriones, and all the inferior mob-drivers of the empire. † mob feast n. Obsolete a banquet open to all.Apparently an isolated use. ΚΠ 1830 T. Moore in Mem. (1854) VI. 150 This is the third dinner..one of the others being a mob feast, at six shillings a-head. mob law n. †(a) a law imposed by a mob (obsolete); (b) = mob-rule n. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > rule of any class or persons > [noun] > of the mob ochlocratia1584 ochlocracy1594 mob government1703 mobocracy1754 mob law1809 mob-rule1837 pollarchy1853 1809 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1947) VIII. 804 Motion for Abolishing all Laws, but Mob Laws. 1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 7 May 4/2 Public sentiment has been awakened, and our people realize the evils of mob law. 1990 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 77 869 Elizabeth Cady Stanton..condemned this kind of action as ‘mob law’. mob-man n. now rare = mobsman n. 2. ΚΠ 1747 in New Jersey Archives (1883) 1st Ser. 7 428 He discoursing with several of the mobmen,..has heard them [say]..that the King himself was unable to quell mobs in England. 1835 W. E. Bartlett Let. 12 Aug. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1914) 9 160 You may see large companies of worthies marching to and fro, and a mob man, as such, cannot be seen. 1921 Polit. Sci. Q. 36 117 The response will be lukewarm, except in the case of the professional street agitators and mob-men. 1989 J. S. McClelland Crowd & Mob Introd. 26 The fears of the theorists of the crowd before 1914 that all men in the right circumstances were mob men were triumphantly confirmed. mob-master n. a person who controls a mob. ΘΚΠ society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > of a mob mob-mastera1734 a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vii. §85. 571 Mob-Masters,..that, upon the Watch-word, are to bring forward some hare-brained Rout, which they call the People. 1941 W. J. Cash Mind of South i. iii. 79 That significant type of people's captain, the fire-eating orator and mob-master. mob opinion n. an opinion held generally by a mob. ΚΠ 1769 W. Warburton in A. Pope Epist. Cobham 135 (note) This, though a mere mob-opinion, is the opinion in fashion, and cherished by the Mob of all denominations. 1831 Fraser's Mag. 4 140 [That journal's] truckling, and trimming, and shifting, and debasing servilism to mob opinions. 1988 Representations Autumn 117 Pudd'nhead Wilson translates mob opinion into the rule of law at the conclusion of Twain's novel. † mob-reader n. Obsolete a reader belonging to the mob; an uneducated reader.Apparently an isolated use. ΚΠ 1697 J. Dryden Ded. Æneis in tr. Virgil Wks. sig. e3^v Such things as are our Upper-Gallery Audience in a Play-House... These are Mobb-Readers. mob-rule n. rule imposed and enforced by a mob. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > rule of any class or persons > [noun] > of the mob ochlocratia1584 ochlocracy1594 mob government1703 mobocracy1754 mob law1809 mob-rule1837 pollarchy1853 1837 Southern Literary Messenger June 348/2 Demagogue influence, mob rule and even capital execution without trial, make a healthy and courageous land look pale with apprehension. 1869 A. Maclaren Serm. preached in Manch. 2nd Ser. vii. 123 The willing spirit sets us free,..free from the mob rule of Passions and Appetites. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 141/2 Their rule was mostly judicious, and when at last they lost control the ensuing mob-rule soon ruined the country. 1984 Daily Express 21 July 8/1 There is a certain satisfaction seeing the mob-rule militants clobbered by their own weapons. mob scene n. a crowd scene, esp. in a film or play; also in extended use. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > scene > type of scene or act monologuec1550 monology1608 night scene1683 mad scene1741 drop-scene1815 recognition scene1838 carpenter's-scene1860 scène à faire1884 mob scene1890 sex scene1915 curtain1928 1890 Overland Monthly Mar. 319 There is a strike and a mob scene as the climax of the story. 1908 Variety 30 May 11 When a mob scene is shown a carefully rehearsed crowd of supers will be present to make the appropriate noises. 1992 Canad. Living 1 Dec. 171 Now the mob scenes at the big pine kitchen table will give way to candlelit dîners-à-deux in a more intimate setting. † mob story n. Obsolete rare a story circulating among the populace; a rumour. ΚΠ 1716 J. Addison Freeholder No. 9. ⁋12 Do you..believe the mob-story, that King George designs to make a bridge of boats from Hannover to Wapping? Derivatives ˈmoblike adj. ΚΠ 1796 W. Cooke Conversation iii. 34 That mob~like education of the streets. 1895 S. Crane Red Badge of Courage iv. 50 A sketch in gray and red dissolved into a moblike body of men who galloped like wild horses. 1992 Amer. Jrnl. Polit. Sci. 36 997 Agile demagogues will play on hatreds and weaknesses to fabricate a vindictive moblike tyranny of the majority. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † mobn.³ Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: mop n.⁴ Etymology: Origin uncertain: perhaps a variant of mop n.⁴ N.E.D. (1907) gives the pronunciation as (mǫb) /mɒb/. Obsolete. rare. A kind of brush used for stopping other organ pipes sounding while one is being tuned. ΚΠ 1852 tr. J. J. Seidel Organ & its Constr. 150 The mob [Ger. Die sogenannten Stimmpinsel] is a sort of brush, consisting of threads of wool or silk, which are glued on to a thin handle of wood or wire... Now, if a pipe is to be tuned, the mobs must be dropped into all the other pipes of the same rank, so as to prevent their sounding or whizzing. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2019). mobv.¹ Brit. /mɒb/, U.S. /mɑb/ Forms: 1600s– mob, 1800s mobb (English regional). Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Or perhaps formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: moble v.; mob n.¹ Etymology: Origin uncertain: perhaps shortened < moble v., or perhaps < mob n.¹ (though the noun is first attested slightly later in this sense). rare. Perhaps Obsolete. transitive. To wrap or muffle; to dress (oneself) untidily. Also with up. Usually in passive. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > provide with clothing [verb (transitive)] > in specific way > wrap or envelop > one's head or face mabble1615 moble1655 mob1664 1664 H. More Expos. 7 Epist. Pref. b 2 Men..having..Chins as smooth as Womens, and their Faces mob'd in Hoods. 1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel i. Notes 22 Monks and Friers mob'd in their Cools and long Coats. 1685 A. Behn Love Lett. between Noble-man & Sister: 2nd Pt. 272 She made Antonett dress up in her Cloaths, and mobbing her Sarcenet hood about her head, she appear'd so like Antonett..that 'twas not easie to distinguish 'em. 1720 J. Gay Poems Several Occasions II. 360 Yet in the gall'ry mob'd, she sits secure. a1745 J. Swift Story Injured Lady (1746) 3 I go always mobbed and in an Undress. 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 107 [He] shall sit..mobbed up in double night-caps. 1829 J. Hunter Hallamshire Gloss. 117 To Mobb, to dress awkwardly. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 139/1 [Kent] ‘See how she is mobb'd up’–how sluttishly she is drest. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). mobv.² Brit. /mɒb/, U.S. /mɑb/ Forms: 1600s– mob, 1900s– marb (U.S. regional). Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mob n.² Etymology: < mob n.² 1. a. transitive. To attack or surround in, or as in, a mob; to crowd round and molest or harass; to throng. Later also: to crowd round or press upon (a celebrity, etc.) in adulation or acclamation. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > in a riot rabble1661 scour1681 mob1696 small-gang1851 riot1886 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > crowd together > crowd upon > in a disorderly manner mob1696 1696 W. Gilpin Let. 1 Apr. in D. R. Hainsworth Corr. J. Lowther (1983) 270 Being unwilling to be mobbed..I stayed at home. 1709 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) VI. 494 Last week a corn factor..had like to have been mobb'd. 1717 D. Defoe Mem. Church of Scotl. ii. 93 They mobbed the Presbytery, beat and very ill treated..the Moderator. 1719 Rec. Colony Rhode Island (1859) IV. 259 'Tis very wonderful to me..that none of His Majesty's officers of the custom, have been mobbed, and torn in pieces by the rabble. 1761 G. G. Beekman Let. 23 Mar. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 374 You Cannot Imagin How Our Caractor Suffers here for want of those accounts. The Sailors are Ready to Mob us. 1810 Sporting Mag. 36 262 The crowd were very abusive, following us, and mobbing us. 1828 T. B. Macaulay in Edinb. Rev. May 361 Whenever any tolerable book of the same description makes its appearance, the circulating libraries are mobbed. 1882 Lady Wilde Let. 18 Sept. in R. Ellmann Oscar Wilde (1987) vii. 181 You are still the talk of London... I think you will be mobbed when you come back by eager crowds. 1884 Manch. Examiner 4 Oct. 4/7 The Alcade of the town having made himself obnoxious to the people, they mobbed the Courthouse. 1894 S. Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. 63 The populace..mobbed and derided him in the streets. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xii. [Cyclops] 306 The Santry boy was declared victor to the frenzied cheers of the public who broke through the ringropes and fairly mobbed him with delight. 1944 Current Biogr. 1943 700/1 Sinatra gets mobbed by semi-hysterical audiences, and receives at least six proposals each week in his fan mail. 1979 Financial Rev. (Austral.) 12 Jan. 31/1 Coal-mining companies are practically mobbing the few customers who are currently buying. 1990 B. Purdie Politics in Streets (BNC) 210 A number of demonstrators tried to get through the police cordon round the prime minister and mobbed and pounded his car. †b. transitive. In passive. Of a person: to be forced into an action, etc., or driven from a place, by the persuasion or aggression of a mob or other group of people. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > to or into an action or state > by violence riot1661 mob1720 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 168 The King was obliged to leave them..for fear of being mobbed into something..unworthy of himself. 1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 7 Between one and another, I was fairly mobbed into it. 1861 W. Phillips Disunion 6 Throughout half the great cities of the North, every one who touches on it [sc. the slavery question] is mobbed into silence! 1863 W. Phillips Speeches 58 George Thompson was mobbed from this platform. c. transitive. Animal Behaviour. Of a bird or other animal: to approach noisily and aggressively so as to drive off (a predator or other source of threat), esp. as part of a group.In quot. 1854 coloured by sense 3. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [verb (transitive)] > mob mob1854 1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 25 Mob, to taunt, to abuse... Often applied to the noise which small birds make at the sight of a hawk or a cat. 1862 A. S. Atkinson Jrnl. 22 Aug. in Richmond–Atkinson Papers (1960) I. xiii. 782 Old Potatau had likened himself to a ruru mobbed by a flock of popokateas. 1927 E. M. Nicholson How Birds Live vii. 87 An owl appears and is surrounded by a clamorous crowd of small birds which proceed to mob it. 1936 Brit. Birds 30 28 Usually when seen it was sitting in a tree, and it was much ‘mobbed’ by Rooks. 1965 P. Wayre Wind in Reeds v. 62 The falcon, sometimes..accompanied by the tiercel, would fly out and mob us. 1990 D. Morris Animalwatching (1991) (BNC) 92 Snakes have been mobbed from time to time by groups of ground squirrels. 2. †a. transitive. With it: to join or associate with the crowd, esp. in order to watch a theatrical production from the gallery; to frequent low company. Also intransitive in same sense. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > become degraded or debased [verb (intransitive)] > accept inferior standards mob1772 slum1928 1699 E. Ward London Spy I. vii. 16 The unfortunate Madams..were forc'd to Mob it on foot with the rest of their Sisters. 1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions iv. 43 I don't wonder such as these go a mobbing among those meanest of mad Things call'd Free-Masons; rough Cheats, and confess'd Delusions are the fittest things to amuse them. 1772 Town & Country Mag. 85/2 At the play one night with the Freemans, mobbing it in the gallery. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. v. i. 9 Warrant I'll mob with the best of them! 1824 M. M. Sherwood Lady of Manor II. ix. 85 I don't want you to make your appearance, I want to go incognito, to mob it, you know, to go in masquerade, and sit in the gallery. 1837 New Monthly Mag. 51 36 He cannot mob it to see a play in the pit. b. intransitive. To form a mob, to congregate in a mob. Also transitive with it. Now British colloquial. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of people or animals > in large numbers > in disorderly manner mob1711 1711 E. Ward Vulgus Britannicus (ed. 3) iii. 96 For those that Mob, like noisy Knaves, Against the Law, with Clubs and Staves. 1728 T. Woolston Disc. Miracles iv. 61 If they did mob it to their own disappointment, about the Door of the House. 1753 S. Foote Englishman in Paris i. 17 They ha'nt Spirit enough to mob here. 1826 T. Hood Fairy Tale v With dusty hides, all mobbing on together. 1840 T. Hood Miss Kilmansegg ii, in New Monthly Mag. 60 259 As many more Mob round the door, To see them going to see it! 1887 G. Meredith Let. Feb. (1970) II. 853 Londoners,..ladies, dandies, mild revolutionists, total subversives, would mob together. 1926 D. Hammett in Black Mask Feb. 67/1 You're not a bad lad, Scuttle,..but don't count on me mobbing up with you. 1990 E. Boland Outside Hist. 20 These shadows in their shadow-bodies, Chittering and mobbing On the far Shore..are The dead. 1991 S. Fry Liar (1992) v. 165 Adrian has seen him mobbing around with his friends as if nothing had happened. 1999 J. King in S. Champion Fortune Hotel 166 A Chelsea boy..ducked in and passed the word along that everyone was mobbing up at the end of the street. c. spec. Australian and New Zealand. Of sheep and (occasionally) of other animals: to gather in a mob. Also with up. Cf. mob n.² 6a. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animals collectively > [verb (intransitive)] > form a herd herd1393 mob1878 1878 E. R. Chudleigh Diary 10 Mar. (1950) 267 Spent some hours driving the main mob of sheep from the fence where they mob day and night. 1958 N.Z. Young Farmer 10 No. 14. 114 When the shepherd is riding round the ewes they tend to move in front of him and mob up in a corner of the paddock. 1981 M. Anderson Both Sides of River 78 When the strings of sheep were mobbing on Jack's Flat, the end of the muster was in sight. 3. transitive. Chiefly regional (British and U.S.). To abuse or scold; to rail at. Also intransitive. ΚΠ 1786 J. Wolcot Bozzy & Piozzi 30 And terrors too, that of my peace, did rob me–For much I fear'd the moralist would mob me. 1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 25 He mobbed her well. 1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens 69 He began to mob Harvey, and said they oughter brought me in afore. 1903 Longman's Mag. July 253 Let her mob, she'll sune get tired. 1936 Amer. Speech 11 191 The father sure did marb because the baby got hurt. He thought the women should take better care of it. 1989 L. Clarke Chymical Wedding 316 But there have been raised voices thereabouts and the parson driven to bad language by the woman's mobbin' him so. †4. transitive. To cause to mix up with a group or mob. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use. ΚΠ 1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess vi. 136 That Which..drags me down From my fixt height to mob me up with all The soft and milky rabble of womankind. 5. transitive. Fox-hunting. To surround and kill (a fox). Cf. mobbing n. 2. rare. ΚΠ 1873 R. E. Egerton-Warburton Hunting Songs (new ed.) 189 A straight fox mobb'd and headed by the laggards in the lane. 1901 Encycl. Sport II. 582/2 Mob, to surround and kill a fox, without giving him the chance of a run. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹?1650n.²adv.1688n.³1852v.¹1664v.²1696
随便看	nungig nungs nunhood nunk nunka nunks nunky nunlet nunlike nunnation mark nunneries nunnery nunnify nunnish nunnishness nunnovice nunny bag nunon nunportress object relations object system object teaching object white object word object-directed

mobn.1

mobn.2adv.

Compounds

Derivatives

† mobn.3

mobv.1

mobv.2

mobn.¹

mobn.²adv.

† mobn.³

mobv.¹

mobv.²