Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

frob

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.14 in modern English

Syllables: frob
IPA

9

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any small device or object (usually hand-sized) which can be manipulated.

Slang

verb

To manipulate in some ill-defined way; to tweak or mess about with.

Slang; Transitive verb

verb

To perform a task that is clear to the speaker but too complex or tedious to be explained, so that outside help is not helpful.

Slang

verb

To transform and obscure in a trivial fashion with memfrob(3).

Example Sentences

"Hand me that frob there, will you?"
"I sketched about 30 different versions, then scanned them in and played around until I got it right, then frobbed it with Photoshop."
"Why don't you go get lunch? I need to frob with this thing for about 30 minutes and then we'll be good to go."

Etymology

Clipping of frobnicate, from frobnitz, coined circa 1958 by David R. Sawyer of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC). Year of origin uncertain, and could be 1958–1981: frob is not listed in the TMRC dictionaries of 1959 or 1960, and is first listed in the Jargon File (1981 edition), so it may date from the 1960s or 1970s. Possibly variant of or influenced by frotsus (“a protruding arm or trunnion”), which is listed in TMRC 1959 and 1960.

Usage

Inflected Forms

frobs (plural) frobs (present, singular) frobbing (participle, present) frobbed (participle, past) frobbed (past)

Phrases

futz with

Frequently Paired Words

frobnicate frobnitz futz with tweak twiddle

Questions

What does frob mean?: Any small device or object (usually hand-sized) which can be manipulated.
Where does frob come from?: Clipping of frobnicate, from frobnitz, coined circa 1958 by David R. Sawyer of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC). Year of origin uncertain, and could be 1958–1981: frob is not listed in the TMRC dictionaries of 1959 or 1960, and is first listed in the Jargon File (1981 edition), so it may date from the 1960s or 1970s. Possibly variant of or influenced by frotsus (“a protruding arm or trunnion”), which is listed in TMRC 1959 and 1960.

How to pronounce frob

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