What does "blob" mean?
A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.
Blob
/blɑb/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.
- Grammar: blob is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: ball, balloon, bilge, binary data.
- Useful contrasts: concentrate, disperse, even out.
- Usage evidence: Wait a minute. Did you call me "blob"?
How to use "blob"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "blob" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "blob" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "blob" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "blob" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "blob" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "ball" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "blob", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.
"Only the outermost blob on either side in map 2 displays misalignment."
- 2 Alternative spelling of BLOB. alt-of, alternative
- 3 Acronym of binary large object. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
"I've added a BLOB so that we can store pictures."
- 4 an indistinct shapeless form wordnet
- 5 A large cloud of gas.
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 A large cloud of gas.; Ellipsis of extended Lyman-Alpha blob, a huge body of gas that may be the precursor to a galaxy. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 7 A bubble; a bleb. dialectal
- 8 A small freshwater fish (Cottus bairdii); the miller's thumb.
- 9 The partially inflated air bag used in the sport of blobbing.
- 10 A score of zero. slang
"A gentleman named W. Shakespeare scored a blob in the Worcestershire v. Lancashire match. We understand that he got out because the ball pitched on a "damned spot.""
- 11 Physarum polycephalum, a bright yellow acellular slime mold known for solving puzzles, making decisions, etc. without a nervous system.
- 12 An extremely morbidly obese person, to the point of most of their body being composed of fat and nothing else.
Verb
- 1 To splash in the form of a blob or blobs. transitive
"Bones put the tiny crimson speck between his slides, blobbed a drop of oil on top, and focused the microscope."
- 2 make a spot or mark onto wordnet
- 3 To drop a blob or blobs onto; to cover with blobs. transitive
"She was beating something in a pail, beating it with her hands; her arms were blobbed with pink froth to the elbows."
- 4 To fall in the form of a blob or blobs. intransitive
"Caroline began to separate eggs, cracking them into unbelievably even halves, sliding the gold, round and elastic, from shell to shell, whilst the white hung, heavy, translucent, in thick sheets, and blobbed suddenly into her basin."
- 5 To spill sauce on oneself while eating. UK, colloquial, intransitive
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To relax idly and mindlessly; to veg out. intransitive, slang
- 7 To catch eels by means of worms strung on a thread. intransitive
"[…] where he had surreptitiously tickled small trout, or openly "blobbed" for eels with worms threaded on to darning wool when the rains came, […]"
Proper Noun
- 1 The section of the elite class in Washington D.C. who have moved from political or regulatory work to lobbying firms or think tanks, especially in foreign policy or on the behalf of corporations. US, derogatory
- 2 The civil service and other public bodies, perceived as prone to groupthink and acting as an obstacle to government action; the deep state. UK, derogatory
"Mr Cummings explains his loathing for the blob in his long and entertaining blog. He argues that it is made up of “grotesque incompetents”[…]"
- 3 A large mass of relatively warm water in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America that was detected in 2013 and continued to spread throughout 2014 and 2015.
Antonyms
Example
"Wait a minute. Did you call me "blob"?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "blob"?
Common synonyms include: ball, balloon, bilge, binary data, bit, bladder.
How do you use "blob" in a sentence?
Wait a minute. Did you call me "blob"?
How do you pronounce "blob"?
Pronounced /blɑb/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English *blob (“attested in blobby”). Possibly onomatopoeic, similarly to bleb and blubber.
Etymology 2
Formed as a backronym. See Object storage#Origins.