dob
/dɒb
/verb (dobs, dobbing, dobbed) [with object] Australian /NZ informal
1 (dob someone in) Inform against someone: Helen dobbed me in to Mum...
- At least I wont have to worry about Phil dobbing me in anymore.
- He says no one will tell him exactly how he got caught, but someone must have dobbed him in.
- He says there are too many spies about and too many people who will dob you in for money.
1.1 [no object] (dob on) Inform on; betray.He was summoned before the committee and fined for dobbing on a workmate but refused to pay....
- How are we going to work together as a community rather than dobbing on each other and isolating each other.
- He's in the prison, he's dobbing on his prison mates, on other inmates, and he's very scared for his life.
2 (dob something in) Contribute money to a common cause: everyone dobbed in a few dollars
3 (dob someone in) Impose on someone to do something: I dobbed him in to do the cleaning
Derivatives
dobber
- The player - knockabout, sleeves-up, Green Valley tough guy - looks like a little dobber who's run to the headmaster.
- And then the little dobber, office nark starts harping on about the need to draw up a roster for using the photocopier.
- I certainly do not condone illegality, but I strongly reject the idea of Mr Citizen becoming a dobber!
Origin
1950s: figurative use of dialect dob 'put down abruptly', later 'throw something at a target'.