sobn.1
/sɒb/ 1. † c. An act, on the part of a horse, of recovering its wind after exertion; an opportunity allowed to it of doing this; hence figurative, a rest or respite. Chiefly in the phrase to give..a sob. Obsolete.
a. An act of sobbing; a convulsive catching of the breath under the influence of grief.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [noun] > sobbing > a sob
yeskeOE
sobbingc1300
sobc1374
throb1579
singult1590
snub1737
singultus1824
yoop1847
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iv. 375 Among hise sobbes and his sykes sore.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 272/1 Sobbe that cometh in wepynge, sanglovt.
1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) lxxiii The syghes, the sobbes, the diepe and deadly groane.
1583 W. Hunnis (title) Seuen sobs of a sorrowfull soule for sinne.
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 46 The rich mans reuenewes are serued in with bitter sops and sobs to.
1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) iv. 35 There she collects the Force of Female Lungs, Sighs, Sobs, and Passions.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere vi, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 39 And I with sobs did pray.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Ginevra in Posthumous Poems (1824) 235 Some melted into tears without a sob.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. x. 174 Her eyes had been swelling with tears again, and she ended with a sob.
b. A similar act or sound expressive of pain or exertion; an utterance resembling a sob.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or shout (loudness) > cry of emotion or pain > [noun] > sound of sobbing
sob?a1505
yoop1847
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > [noun] > shortness of breath > gasping
gasping1440
sob?a1505
gaspa1529
glutting1733
kink1788
catching1873
gaspiness1883
catch1884
a1505 R. Henryson Sum Pract. Med. 55 in Poems (1981) 181 Sevin sobbis of ane selche.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 328 Detested sport,..That feeds upon the sobs..Of harmless nature.
1793 W. Wordsworth Evening Walk 443 The tremulous sob of the complaining owl.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake ii. 77 Right up Ben-Lomond could he press, And not a sob his toil confess.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > temporary cessation of activity or operation > [noun] > (a) respite
spalea1250
lithec1300
respitec1330
sabbath1398
vacationc1425
respetta1450
respectc1450
repose?1549
intermission1576
bait1580
sob1593
respiration1611
vacation1614
suspension1645
relaxation1728
relax1733
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [noun] > a ride or spell of riding or excursion > a rest in
sob1593
Welsh bait1603
off-saddle1845
1593 G. Markham Disc. Horsmanshippe iii. sig. I If your Horse..cannot runne long with a winde, but if he want staies or sobbes.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice iii. 8 These staies and recouerings of wind in the horse my maisters, the northerne riders call Sobs.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. iii. 24 The man sir, that when gentlemen are tired giues them a sob, and rests them. View more context for this quotation
1624 W. Browne His Fiftie Yeares Pract. sig. F2 Euer yeeld willingly to your hand whensoeuer you see occasion to take him up to giue him a sobe, for that horse I hold to bee perfectly and truly mouthed.
a1658 J. Cleveland To his Hermaphrodite in Wks. (1687) 23 But was he dead? Did not his Soul..break up House, like an expensive Lord, That gives his Purse a Sob, and lives at Board?
2. transferred. A sound resembling that of a sob.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > non-resonance > [noun] > sob
sob1765
1765 Compl. Maltster & Brewer 68 The first filling should not be until the sobs are quite down at the bung.
1820 J. Hogg Shepherd's Cal. vii Goodnight to a' younger brothers, puffings o' love vows, and sabs o' wind!
1881 Grove's Dict. Music III. 190 That species of musical sob produced by the repercussion of a prolonged note before the final cadence.
1897 T. Watts-Dunton Coming of Love (1899) 9 With sea-sobs warning of the awakened wind.
Compounds
C1. sob-broken, sob-like adjs.
ΚΠ
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague in Poems (1825) I. 197 Sob-broken words of prayer!
1857 Ld. Dufferin Lett. from High Latitudes (ed. 3) 93 Wilson's sob-like snores shook..the canvas walls.
1861 D. G. Rossetti tr. Dante Vita Nuova in Early Ital. Poets ii. 269 A voice so sob-broken, So feeble with the agony of tears.
1895 Cent. Mag. Aug. 571/2 It was..occasionally making a sob-like sound.
C2. colloquial (originally U.S.) With reference to sentimental appeals to the emotions.
sob act n.
ΚΠ
a1953 E. O'Neill Long Day's Journey (1956) iv. 157 He's been putting on the old sob act for you, eh?
sob-raiser n.
ΚΠ
1917 S. Graham Priest of Ideal xxix. 278 Our great sob-raiser who persistently pleads in the Primer for all causes which obviously evoke pity and rage.
sob-reporter n.
ΚΠ
1929 McGraw-Hill Book Notes 11 Feb. The story in that announcement..looked too much like the efforts of a newspaper sob-reporter.
sob-singer n.
ΚΠ
1955 Star (Johannesburg) 10 Oct. 8/2 Should a squad of police be seconded..to guard the American ‘sob singer’ Johnnie Ray?
sob-song n.
ΚΠ
1927 New Republic 12 Oct. 211/1 He has possibly scored some moderate hits: in ‘Manhattan Mary’, ‘Broadway’, ‘The Five Step’.., a curiously constructed sob-song called ‘Memories’, and the title-piece.
1964 J. P. Clark Three Plays 114 So you turn your broad back Upon me and will continue with your sob-songs?
sob specialist n.
ΚΠ
1931 Kansas City (Missouri) Star 3 Nov. 22/5 It is gratifying..that the sob specialists can find practically nothing..to be sorry about.
sob squad n.
ΚΠ
1912 G. M. Hyde Newspaper Reporting 236 The search for human interest material is a modification of the ‘sob squad’ work of the sensational papers, on more delicate lines.
sob-talk n.
ΚΠ
1946 A. Koestler Thieves in Night 219 ‘That's so much sob-talk,’ said Matthews.
sob tune n.
ΚΠ
1926 E. O'Neill Great God Brown ii. i. 46 I love those rotten old sob tunes.
C3.
sob brother n. U.S. colloquial a sentimental man.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > sentimentality > [noun] > sentimental person
sentimentalist1778
foster-feeling1784
sentimental1784
sentimentalizer1865
sob sister1912
sob brother1914
marshmallow1935
1914 J. London Let. 23 Sept. (1966) 430 All I can say is that he is a weak-brother, a sob-brother.
1927 Sat. Evening Post (N.Y.) 24 Dec. 62/3 The sob sisters and the sob brothers..who didn't raise their boys to be soldiers.
sob sister n. a female journalist who writes sentimental reports or articles; a writer of sob stories; hence in various transferred uses, esp.: an actress who plays pathetic roles; a sentimental, impractical person, a do-gooder; a journalist who gives advice on readers' problems.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > sentimentality > [noun] > sentimental person
sentimentalist1778
foster-feeling1784
sentimental1784
sentimentalizer1865
sob sister1912
sob brother1914
marshmallow1935
society > communication > journalism > journalist > [noun] > sentimental or advice writer
sob sister1912
Lonelyhearts1933
Miss Lonelyhearts1933
agony aunt1974
society > society and the community > social attitudes > philanthropy > [noun] > unrealistic philanthropism > unrealistic philanthropist
do-gooder1901
sob sister1912
do-good1923
uplifter1923
do-gooding1938
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [noun] > actress > types of
tragedy queen1715
soubrette1753
jeune première1817
comedienne1834
old woman1838
tragedienne1841
ingénue1848
sob sister1912
voice actress1974
1912 Sat. Evening Post (N.Y.) 7 Dec. 9/3 Of the Daily Blatt's seven sob sisters six had husbands; and of the six it was more or less pure coincidence that five were supported by their wives.
1922 Opportunities in Motion Picture Ind. (Photoplay Research Soc.) 5 Some sob-sisters have gratified their ambition to play comedy, and have played it well.
1927 Daily Express 18 Apr. 4/2 ‘Sob sisters’—corps of women reporters specially employed to write sentimental accounts to appeal to the emotions of feminine readers.
1927 Sat. Evening Post (N.Y.) 24 Dec. The sob sisters and the sob brothers..who didn't raise their boys to be soldiers.
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xviii. 196 It's one of the things the sob-sisters are sure to write up.
1939 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Feb. 9/8 Forecasting opposition to his plan by ‘sob-sisters’ Goodwin said ‘it wouldn't do any harm to give these sob-sisters a couple of wallops too’.
1963 J. Mitford Amer. Way of Death x. 153 Mrs. St. Johns is best known as one of the original sob sisters, a Hearst reporter in her youth.
1967 Boston Herald 8 May 19/5 Now that Svetlana has become America's newest millionaire glamor girl sob-sister, American interest in peeking or looking through the iron curtain is at a new all-time high.
1972 Listener 20 July 72/3 Sob sisters, those ladies who advise the unhappy about their problems.
sob story n. a report or article designed to make a sentimental appeal to the emotions; transferred a narrative of one's misfortunes, a ‘hard luck story’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > sentimentality > [noun] > that which appeals to sentimentality
sob story1913
tear-jerker1921
society > communication > journalism > journal > matter of or for journals > [noun] > story > types of
sob story1913
wire story1943
cover story1945
MEGO1977
spoiler1985
1913 Writer's Mag. Nov. 174/2 I wrote the ‘sob’ story of ‘the City that Turned Down Santa’.
1920 C. Sandburg Smoke & Steel 28 How easy to make a sob story over who she was once and who she is now.
1923 C. E. Montague Fiery Particles 177 Thomas Curtayne, the greatest of Irishmen, was to be buried in homely state... Here was a sob-story, manifestly.
1949 Los Angeles Times 15 June ii. 4/4 How anyone could heed such a sob story is beyond me.
1979 N. Hynd False Flags xxi. 188 ‘Sometimes a man tries to do too much.’.. ‘I'm familiar with the old sob story.’
1982 A. Mather Impetuous Masquerade xi. 170 And give him some sob-story?
sob-stuff n. speech or writing which makes a sentimental appeal to the emotions; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [noun] > sentimentality > sentimental speech or writing
gush1866
rose pink1872
sob-stuff1918
gloop1957
1918 H. C. Witwer in Collier's 11 May 15/2 Well, Joe, we gotta lot of new songs over here now, besides ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ which same is our favourite and a lot more of the old stand-bys, which runs more to the sob stuff.
1920 A. B. Baxter Parts Men Play xxi You ain't a child, and I see that I can't put over any sob stuff with you.
1921 Spectator 9 Apr. 463/2 We cannot afford to be merciful to a bad or doubtful premise because of a ‘sob-stuff’ appeal to Charity.
1922 C. Sidgwick Victorian xxvi. 193 When the girls talked sobstuff at school I always told them I meant to marry a millionaire.
1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey ii. vi. 167 A condition or acquiescence, fatalism, ‘Who dies if England live’ sort of sob-stuff state.
1924 M. Newman Consummation ii. x. 121 Julius answered..that he was ‘trying to live down the dreadful past’. Freddy replied telling him to cut out all that sob-stuff and not be a stupid ass.
1928 S. Vines Humours Unreconciled xxi. 266 Dickensian sob-stuff.
1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 128 A sickly people will slay us If we touch the sob-stuff crown of such martyrs.
1937 A. Christie Murder in Mews ix. 223 Of course I'm sorry. I don't indulge in sob-stuff. But I shall miss him.
1978 N. Marsh Grave Mistake iii. 90 He puts on a bit of an act like a guide doing his sob-stuff over Mary Queen of Scots in Edinburgh Castle.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
sobn.2
/sɒb/ slang.
A pound.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > specific sums of money > a pound
li.c1450
quid1661
strike1680
note1775
scrieve1821
nicker1871
saucepan lid1896
bar1911
berry1918
smacker1920
thick 'un1968
sob1970
1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard iii. 113 Two hundred sobs was a small piece of fifty grand.
1973 ‘K. Royce’ Spider Underground v. 79 Norman could have back his fifty sobs; when I failed I didn't want compensation.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
sobv.1
/sɒb/ 1.
a. intransitive. To catch the breath in a convulsive manner as the result of violent emotion, esp. grief; to weep in this fashion. Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep [verb (intransitive)] > sob
yesklOE
soba1200
snobc1300
yeskenc1450
throb1557
snub1621
sike1841
a1200 Vices & Virtues 57 Ðe gastliche mann..lihtliche wepð oðer sobbeð, oðerhwile mid bitere teares, oðerhwile mid wel swete teares.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 211 Saint gregorie zaiþ þet zoþliche bidde god is biter zobbinge of uorþenchinge.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiv. 326 He..Swowed and sobbed and syked ful ofte.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 319 Sche fond non amendement To syghen or to sobbe more.
1420–22 J. Lydgate Story of Thebes iii. 3380 He can not but sighe, sobbe, and wepe.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xviii. ii. 726 She sobbed and wepte a grete whyle.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 724/1 The poore boye sobbed, as his herte shulde brust.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iii. i. 137 See how my wretched sister sobs and weepes. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. iii. 143 Then downe vpon her knees she falls, weepes, sobs, beates her heart. View more context for this quotation
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Sanglotter,..to sob often.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Snoffen,..to Sigh, or to Sob.
1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera i. xiii. 18 Polly. The Boy, thus, when his Sparrow's flown,..Whines, whimpers, sobs and cries.
1787 R. Burns Poems (new ed.) 149 Kxxxxxxxxx lang may grunt an' grain, An' sigh an' sab [1787 1st impr. 1793 sob], an' greet her lane.
1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 225 He sank on his knees..and sobbed like a child.
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais xiv. 11 The wild winds flew round, sobbing in their dismay.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. ix. 222 Both waved a farewell to him, and little Frank sobbed to leave him.
1891 E. Peacock Narcissa Brendon II. 84 Narcissa sobbed with joy and love.
b. To make a sound resembling sobbing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > non-resonance > become non-resonant [verb (intransitive)] > make sobbing sound
sob1676
1676 T. Mace Musick's Monument 170 Cause Them to Sobb, by Slacking your Stopping Hand, so soon as They are Struck.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 76 Saugh will sob [in burning] if it was sommer sawn.
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 156 In loving bleeze they sweetly join, Till white in ase they're sobbin.
?1847 T. Brown Man. Mod. Farriery 410 If he dances about.., sobbing, and drawing his breath quickly, this will be found an indication of his being a whistler, or piper.
1852 Zoologist 10 3427 ‘Sobbing’ up and down, as we say of sperm whales.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. i. iv. 72 The thunder..sobbing far away among the distant hills.
1893 Tablet 27 May 819 The great Soul Bell of St. Swithun's was sobbing in the winter wind for the death of the bishop.
2. 1825 W. Scott Betrothed Concl., in Tales Crusaders II. 330 Eveline wept,..she prayed—and, finally, sobbed herself to sleep, like an infant.1851 E. B. Browning Casa Guidi Windows ii. xv. 111 On starving homes! where many a lip Has sobbed itself asleep.1877 ‘Mrs. Forrester’ Mignon I. 191 The child could sob herself to sleep on her father's breast.
a. To break or burst with sobbing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep [verb (intransitive)] > sob > break or burst with sobbing
sob1614
1614 W. Alexander Doomes-day i. c. sig. Dv Heauen clad with Darknesse mourn'd, Earth sob'd asunder.
b. reflexive. To bring (oneself) into a certain state, or to sleep, with sobbing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep [verb (reflexive)] > sob
sob1658
1658 F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 138 If you yourselfe were of such a humour that you should..sigh and sobb and pout yourselfe into a sicknesse.
3. transitive.
a. To send out, bring up, etc., by sobbing or with sobs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep for [verb (transitive)] > expel or emit by weeping
blubber1590
outweep1597
to bluther outa1689
sob1718
1718 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad IV. xvi. 419 He sobs his Soul out in a Gush of Blood.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xii. 130 He sobb'd up his grief.
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc v. 162 Then did I..almost sob my very soul away.
1869 A. J. Evans Vashti xiii. 175 Here..you will live while there is breath in my body,—unless you wish to make me sob it out and die the sooner.
b. To utter with sobs. Usually with out.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > say in a particular manner [verb (transitive)] > with a sigh or unhappily
pule1535
suspirec1550
sigh1553
sob1782
sough1816
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep for [verb (transitive)] > sob
sob1782
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep for [verb (transitive)] > sob > utter with sobs
sob1782
1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. v. x. 107 It was not without the utmost difficulty she could sob out the cause of this fresh sorrow.
1861 C. M. Yonge Young Step-mother iv. 42 ‘Things didn't use to be stupid when Ned was there!’ sobbed Gilbert.
1862 M. E. Braddon Lady Audley's Secret III. iii. 78 ‘May God soften this blow for you,’ sobbed the young man.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxii. 391 Sobbing out their entreaties on their knees.
Derivatives
sobbed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] > sobbing > uttered with sobs
sobbed1895
1895 W. Platt Women 98 Her sobbed thanks washed it as they fell upon it.
ˈsobber n. a person who sobs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [noun] > sobbing > sobber
sobber1894
1894 A. Morrison Tales Mean Streets 267 His bright, strenuous eyes were on the sobbers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
sobv.2
Now dialect and U.S.
transitive. To soak, saturate, sop. (Usually in past participle.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > make very wet [verb (transitive)]
drenchc1000
washc1275
drowna1300
drunkena1300
drunka1382
bewetc1400
bedrenchc1450
bucka1513
sowp1513
drooka1522
sousea1542
soaken1577
overdrown1579
soss1587
embay1590
steep1590
overdrencha1592
embathe1593
indrench1593
imbue1594
douse1606
besob1609
bucket1621
sob1625
dash1670
sop1682
saturate1696
float1729
water1754
sodden1812
douche1864
poach1881
tosh1883
sod1895
1625 G. Markham Inrichm. Weald of Kent 7 A purer flowre then that which is sobbed in wet.
1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons French Gardiner 267 When the Tree being sobb'd and wet, swells the wood, and loosens, the fruit.
1679 J. Evelyn Sylva (ed. 3) 178 As the Rain sobs it too much.
1692 Rector's Bk. Clayworth (1910) 98 The meadows were so sobb'd, that it cost 15s to make the way..passable.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Sallet Let them be rather discreetly sprinkled, than over-much sobb'd with Spring-Water.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 263 Sob, to soak, to sop.
a1859 in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 425 The high lands are sobbed and boggy.
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. 154 The cloth..is all sobbed with the wet.
Derivatives
sobbed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > [adjective]
thorough wetOE
drunk1382
drunkenc1420
uliginosec1440
dung wetc1450
drookeda1522
wet through, to the skin1526
sogginga1552
washed1557
washy1566
muck-wet1567
wringing wet1570
drenched1589
dropsy1605
ydrenched1610
sobby1611
dropsieda1616
slocken1643
uliginous1650
dabbling1661
sodded1661
sobbing1664
sobbed1693
flashy1702
saturated1728
saturate1785
livereda1796
sappy1806
laving1812
sodden1820
sopped1822
soppy1823
soaked1829
dropsical1845
soddened1845
soaking wet1847
soggya1852
sogged1860
soaking1864
sopping1866
soaken1898
astream1929
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Treat. Orange Trees xi. 31 in Compl. Gard'ner Lest the Sob'd Leaves, shut up wet, should soon become foul and squalid.
ˈsobbing n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > [adjective]
thorough wetOE
drunk1382
drunkenc1420
uliginosec1440
dung wetc1450
drookeda1522
wet through, to the skin1526
sogginga1552
washed1557
washy1566
muck-wet1567
wringing wet1570
drenched1589
dropsy1605
ydrenched1610
sobby1611
dropsieda1616
slocken1643
uliginous1650
dabbling1661
sodded1661
sobbing1664
sobbed1693
flashy1702
saturated1728
saturate1785
livereda1796
sappy1806
laving1812
sodden1820
sopped1822
soppy1823
soaked1829
dropsical1845
soddened1845
soaking wet1847
soggya1852
sogged1860
soaking1864
sopping1866
soaken1898
astream1929
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > [noun] > action or process
soak1598
drenching1626
sobbing1664
saturation1732
flooding1799
swamping1802
drench1807
water-soaking1849
soddening1852
soakage1867
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva 69 Moss is to be rubb'd..off..with a piece of Hair-cloth after a sobbing Rain.
1670 J. Evelyn Sylva (ed. 2) 164 For which the best cure is, the plentiful sobbing it in water.
1686 S. Pepys Mem. Royal Navy (1690) 72 Rendred..[black] by its long sobbing in water.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† sobv.3
dialect. Obsolete.
transitive. To frighten, scare. In Milton Ref. Engl. i. 20 the correct reading is fob.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > frighten [verb (transitive)]
gastOE
eisieOE
fearc1000
scarec1175
fray14..
doubtc1315
fright1423
flightc1571
to curdle the blood1579
effray1588
hare1656
pavefy1656
frighten1666
sob1671
haze1677
funk1789
gliff1823
frecken1847
to scare a person silly1942
1671 S. Skinner & T. Henshaw Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ To Sob one, (i.e.) dialecto Linc. Perterrefacere, Confundere.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
> as lemmas
S.O.B.
S.O.B. n. (also s.o.b.) chiefly U.S. son of a bitch, also silly old bastard, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused
warlockOE
swinec1175
beastc1225
wolf's-fista1300
avetrolc1300
congeonc1300
dirtc1300
slimec1315
snipec1325
lurdanc1330
misbegetc1330
sorrowa1350
shrew1362
jordan1377
wirlingc1390
frog?a1400
warianglea1400
wretcha1400
horcop14..
turdc1400
callet1415
lotterela1450
paddock?a1475
souter1478
chuff?a1500
langbain?c1500
cockatrice1508
sow1508
spink1508
wilrone1508
rook?a1513
streaker?a1513
dirt-dauber?1518
marmoset1523
babiona1529
poll-hatcheta1529
bear-wolf1542
misbegotten1546
pig1546
excrement1561
mamzer1562
chuff-cat1563
varlet1566
toada1568
mandrake1568
spider1568
rat1571
bull-beef1573
mole-catcher1573
suppository1573
curtal1578
spider-catcher1579
mongrela1585
roita1585
stickdirta1585
dogfish1589
Poor John1589
dog's facec1590
tar-boxa1592
baboon1592
pot-hunter1592
venom1592
porcupine1594
lick-fingers1595
mouldychaps1595
tripe1595
conundrum1596
fat-guts1598
thornback1599
land-rat1600
midriff1600
stinkardc1600
Tartar1600
tumbril1601
lobster1602
pilcher1602
windfucker?1602
stinker1607
hog rubber1611
shad1612
splay-foot1612
tim1612
whit1612
verdugo1616
renegado1622
fish-facea1625
flea-trapa1625
hound's head1633
mulligrub1633
nightmare1633
toad's-guts1634
bitch-baby1638
shagamuffin1642
shit-breech1648
shitabed1653
snite1653
pissabed1672
bastard1675
swab1687
tar-barrel1695
runt1699
fat-face1740
shit-sack1769
vagabond1842
shick-shack1847
soor1848
b1851
stink-pot1854
molie1871
pig-dog1871
schweinhund1871
wind-sucker1880
fucker1893
cocksucker1894
wart1896
so-and-so1897
swine-hound1899
motherfucker1918
S.O.B.1918
twat1922
mong1926
mucker1929
basket1936
cowson1936
zombie1936
meatball1937
shower1943
chickenshit1945
mugger1945
motherferyer1946
hooer1952
morpion1954
mother1955
mother-raper1959
louser1960
effer1961
salaud1962
gunk1964
scunge1967
1918 H. V. O'Brien Wine, Women & War (1926) 286 What an S.O.B. that fellow is!
1930 E. Pound Draft of XXX Cantos x. 45 That monstrous swollen, swelling s.o.b. Papa Pio Secundo.
1934 C. Stead Seven Poor Men of Sydney iv. 120 That s.o.b. Montagu got me the job 'ere, you know.
1955 W. H. Auden Shield of Achilles iii. 79 And all poor s-o-b's who never Do anything properly.
1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxxii. 211 Just a simple case of a couple of well-informed S.O.B.s.
1975 ‘E. Lathen’ By Hook or by Crook xvi. 154 A stubborn SOB who doesn't give a damn.
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n.1c1374
n.21970v.1a1200
v.21625
v.31671as lemmas