cob
A corncobA corncob.
» Tom loves corn on the cob.
Meaning
19 senses(countable, uncountable)A corncob.
(countable, uncountable)The seed-bearing head of a plant.
(countable, uncountable)A male swan.
männlicher Schwan
adult male swan
(East Anglia, countable, uncountable)A gull, especially the black-backed gull (Larus marinus); also spelled cobb.
white gull having a black back and wings
(countable, uncountable)A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large size, as of coal, stone, or excrement.
(Midlands, countable, uncountable)A round, often crusty roll or loaf of bread.
(uncountable)A building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth, similar to adobe; also called cobb, rammed earth or pisé.
(countable, uncountable)A horse having a stout body and short legs.
stocky short-legged harness horse
(countable, uncountable)Any of the gold and silver coins that were minted in the Spanish Empire and valued in reales or escudos, such as the piece of eight—especially those which were crudely struck and irregularly shaped.
(countable, uncountable)A spider (cf. cobweb).
(countable, uncountable)A small fish, the miller's thumb.
(countable, uncountable)A large fish, especially the kabeljou (variant spelling of kob).
Examples
10 sentencesTom loves corn on the cob.
We ate corn on the cob for dinner yesterday.
The pigs ate the maize-cobs.
I love to eat corn on the cob.
Corn on the cob is a summer delight.
Translations
4 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
Of uncertain origin. The word has many disparate senses, which are likely of diverse origiOf uncertain origin. The word has many disparate senses, which are likely of diverse origin. The specifics of these origins have long been debated, as has the question of which senses arise from which origins. At least the swan sense originated in Middle English cobbe (“male swan; gang leader; bully”). Some other senses likely originated as a variant of cop (“head, top, peak, summit”). In other senses, the word may be related to cub, itself of obscure origin but possibly from Old Norse kobbi (“seal”). However, many alternative etymologies have been proposed to account for some or all senses of cob; various sources have related it, for example, to English cot (“cottage”), Welsh cob (“top, tuft”), or German Kübel (“large container”). All these etymologies are disputed, and the exact origins of cob cannot be known with any certainty.
Uncertain. Possibly onomatopoeic, but it has also been suggested that the word could be a continuation of Middle English cobbe (“fight”), a borrowing of Welsh cob (“blow”), or a cognate of Icelandic kubba (“chop”).
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Forms
plural: cobsSynonyms
6 synonyms- white gull having a black back and wings:black-backed gullgreat black-backed gullLarus marinus
- nut of any of several trees of the genus Corylus:hazelnutfilbertcobnut
Word family
11 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable