What does "cob" mean?
A corncob.
Cob
/kɑb/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A corncob.
- Grammar: cob is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: ambler, auricle, bang, black-backed gull.
- Useful contrasts: beginning of day, concrete, kernel.
- Usage evidence: The Norman Cob is a breed of light draft horse that originated in Normandy in northern France.
How to use "cob"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cob" 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 "cob" 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 "cob" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cob" 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 "cob" 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 "ambler" 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 "cob", 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 corncob. countable, uncountable
"The grains, each of which is about the bulk of the largest marrowfat pea, are placed all round a stalk, which goes up the middle, and this little stalk, to which the seeds adhere, is called the Corn Cob."
- 2 A punishment consisting of blows inflicted on the buttocks with a strap or a flat piece of wood.
"Such negro so offending shall receive fifteen cobbs or paddles for every such offence."
- 3 Abbreviation of cobble. abbreviation, alt-of
"Habitats were sand, cobble (cob), sand with macrophytes (s\m) and muck with macrophytes (m\m)."
- 4 Initialism of contingency operating base. US, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 5 adult male swan wordnet
Show 27 more definitions
- 6 The seed-bearing head of a plant. countable, uncountable
"Examining the cob of the plants now in seed, I found them very full of fine seed."
- 7 Alternative form of COB. alt-of, alternative
- 8 Acronym of chief of boat. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 9 white gull having a black back and wings wordnet
- 10 Clipping of cobnut. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, uncountable
"Thy plumbs are fair indeed, but void of taste; And those large thick-shell cobs the teeth will guast."
- 11 Initialism of close of business; the end of day on a business day. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"The NY office told the LA office to ensure the report was emailed by COB."
- 12 stocky short-legged harness horse wordnet
- 13 A male swan. countable, uncountable
"In all common streams, and private waters, when cygnets are taken up, the owner of the cob must chuse the first cygnet, and the pen the next, and so in order…."
- 14 Coordination of Benefits
- 15 nut of any of several trees of the genus Corylus wordnet
- 16 A gull, especially the black-backed gull (Larus marinus); also spelled cobb. East-Anglia, countable, uncountable
"Here is also the pica marina or seapye many sorts of Lari, seamewes & cobs."
- 17 Chairman of the Board
- 18 A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large size, as of coal, stone, or excrement. countable, uncountable
- 19 Chip on board (LED module or integrated circuit bonded to a circuit board)
- 20 A round, often crusty roll or loaf of bread. Midlands, countable, uncountable
"The cob was a cracknel or simnel made of fine flour."
- 21 A building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth, similar to adobe; also called cobb, rammed earth or pisé. uncountable
"The poore Cotager contenteth himſelfe with Cob for his wals, and Thatch for his couering…."
- 22 A horse having a stout body and short legs. countable, uncountable
"If he comes to you riding a cob…"
- 23 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
"…he put his Hand in his Pocket and pull’d out ſome Gold, ſome Broadpieces and a Gold Cob…."
- 24 One who is eminent, great, large, or rich. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"I ſaw fleſh bluddie toe ſlauer, / When the cob had maunged the gobets foule garbaged haulfe quick."
- 25 A spider (cf. cobweb). countable, uncountable
- 26 A small fish, the miller's thumb. countable, uncountable
- 27 A large fish, especially the kabeljou (variant spelling of kob). countable, uncountable
- 28 The head of a herring. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The first red herring that was broil’d in Adam and Eve’s kitchen, do I fetch my pedigree from, by the Harrot’s book. His Cob was my great-great-mighty-great grandfather."
- 29 A tower or small castle on top of a hill. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Perhaps though in time one may make them to yield, But 'tis pretty'st Cob-Castle e'er I beheld."
- 30 A thresher. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Who can make the worm a cob to thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff."
- 31 A cylinder with pins in it, encoding music to be played back mechanically by a barrel organ. countable, historical, uncountable
- 32 A person of mixed black and white ancestry, especially a griffe; a mulatto. countable, dated, historical, uncountable
"[…] but he does not say whether the nobleman is a mulatto or half-caste, or what advantage is to be derived from purchasing a cob belonging to "a dark-brown nobleman.""
Verb
- 1 To construct using mud blocks or to seal a wall using mud or an artificial equivalent.
"Windows and other details can be cobbed into place, and niches and reliefs are easy to create."
- 2 To beat with a flat instrument; to paddle.
"[…] he pulled off his hat, and said he was going to cob him for breaking the rules and laws of the ship’s company."
- 3 To have the heads mature into corncobs.
"Ninety Day came to maturity very early and cobbed plentifully, but the grain proved shallow and lacking in meal."
- 4 To throw, chuck, lob. Northern-UK, colloquial
"Well, sir, I’m sure I’d be rid of it fast enough if I could naut cob it away like a stoan."
- 5 To remove the kernels from a corncob.
"Darning socks, knitting, fancy work, cooking, housework, cobbing corn."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To chip off unwanted pieces of stone, so as to form a desired shape or improve the quality of mineral ore.
"A ſhade or ſhelter from the weather, under which the Cobbers cob the Ore."
- 7 To thresh.
"The price paid for cobbing (separating the seed from the straw) and drawing the seed of red and white clover is from 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. the bushel of 5 stone of seed."
- 8 To break up ground with a hoe.
"I have in this manner cobbed, with great success, lands that had formerly been in tillage, which would no longer bring corn because they were exhausted, either by consecutive crops or by the great quantity of weeks, which impoverished them: these became as good as my regularly cobbed lands."
Proper Noun
- 1 Clive's Original Band, band started by Clive Palmer after he left The Incredible String Band.
- 2 Abbreviation of Cobourg. abbreviation, alt-of
Example
"The Norman Cob is a breed of light draft horse that originated in Normandy in northern France."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cob"?
Common synonyms include: ambler, auricle, bang, black-backed gull, cap, cobnut.
How do you use "cob" in a sentence?
The Norman Cob is a breed of light draft horse that originated in Normandy in northern France.
How do you pronounce "cob"?
Pronounced /kɑb/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Of 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.
Etymology 2
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”).