fob
/fɒb/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.10 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A little pocket near the waistline of a pair of trousers or in a waistcoat or vest to hold money or valuables, especially a pocket watch.
noun
A hand-held electronic device that can be used as a remote control or as a key to unlock motor cars, doors, etc., and thus, modern car keys.
adj
Alternative letter-case form of FOB (“free on board”).
adj
Example Sentences
- "With a saint at his chin and a seal at his fob."
- "As soon as they had confined my arms they left me, and remembering the bank-notes which I had in my fob, I began to fear they had come to the knowledge of this circumstance […]."
- "fob seal"
- "I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fobbed in it."
- "All I knew was, the three-year gap made the difference between passing as American and being exposed as FOB."
- "It seemed at times that everyone was an FOB — everyone, that is, who'd emerged from the ivyest groves of academia […]"
Etymology
From Low German Fobke (“pocket”) or High Prussian Fuppe (“pocket”), probably related to Swedish ficka (“pocket”), Old Danish fikke, Alemannic German figge, Middle Dutch vicke, all from Proto-Germanic *fikkja, of uncertain ultimate origin: * possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to assail, strike”), related to *fukkōną (“to strike”); * or of Romance origin, from Latin figere (“to fix, fasten”), possibly via an old form of Italian ficcare. Also see Ficke.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
fobs (plural)
fobs (present, singular)
fobbing (participle, present)
fobbed (participle, past)
fobbed (past)
fub (alternative)
F.O.B. (alternative)
F. O. B. (alternative)