mob

English

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

Middle English, short for mobile, from Latin mōbile (vulgus) (“fickle (crowd)”). The video-gaming sense originates from English mobile, used by Richard Bartle for objects capable of movement in an early MUD.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: mŏb, IPA: /mɒb/, X-SAMPA: /mQb/
• (US) enPR: mŏb, IPA: /mɑb/, X-SAMPA: /mAb/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒb

Noun

mob (plural mobs)

1. An unruly group of people.
2. A commonly used collective noun for animals such as horses or cattle.
3. The Mafia, or a similar group that engages in organized crime (preceded by the).
   • 1986, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Under the Desert Stars, Dark Horse Books

     What if it is a mob killing? They can’t hurt me, but…

4. (video games) A non-player character that exists to be fought or killed to further the progression of the story or game.

Derived terms

flash mob lynch mob meal mob mob rule mob-handed mobber mobbish

mobbist mobbism moblike mobmobile mobocracy mobster vote mob

Synonyms

• (mafia): mafia, Mafia

Translations

unruly group of people

• Albanian: turmë (sq) f
• Dutch: menigte (nl) f, massa (nl) c
• Galician: turba (gl) f
• Greek: όχλος (el) (óchlos) m 
• Hungarian: csőcselék (hu)
• Italian: folla (it) f
• Japanese: 暴徒 (ja) (ぼうと, bōto)

• Latin: turba (la)
• Portuguese: multidão (pt)
• Russian: шайка (ru) (šájka) f , банда (ru) (bánda) f 
• Scottish Gaelic: gràisg (gd) f
• Spanish: turba (es)

collective noun

• Dutch: kudde (nl) c
• German: Herde Kängurus (de) f, Känguruherde (de) f
• Greek: όχλος (el) (óchlos) m 

• Japanese: 群れ (ja) (むれ, mure)
• Spanish: rebaño (es) m, ganado (es) m
• Volapük: (kangaroos) kangurem (vo), (horses) jevodem (vo), (cattle) bubem (vo)

mafia

• Dutch: maffia (nl) c
• Greek: μαφία (el) (mafía) f 
• Japanese: マフィア (ja) (mafia)
• Persian: مافیا (fa)

• Polish: mafia (pl) f
• Portuguese: máfia (pt)
• Spanish: mafia (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: مجموعة من الناس الخارجين عن السيطرة
• Finnish: lauma, väkijoukko

• French: foule (fr) f
• Hebrew: ערב רב (he) (eirev rav)
• Scots: clanjamphry
• Turkish: başıbozuk, güruh

Verb

mob (third-person singular simple present mobs, present participle mobbing, simple past and past participle mobbed)

1. (transitive) To crowd around (someone), often with hostility.

   The fans mobbed a well-dressed couple who resembled their idols.

2. (transitive) To crowd into or around a place.

   The shoppers mobbed the store on the first day of the sale.

3. (video games) The act of a player aggroing enemies so they follow them and gather, forming a mob of foes.

Translations

crowd around a person

• Dutch: omgeven (nl)
• Finnish: mobata (fi)

• Greek: στριμώχνω (el) (strimókhno) 
• Spanish: rodear (es), amontonarse (es) alrededor (es) de

crowd into or around something

video games

Etymology 2

Alteration of mab.

Noun

mob (plural mobs)

1. (obsolete) A promiscuous woman; a harlot or wench; a prostitute. [17th-18th c.]

Derived terms

• mob cap

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of mobile phone.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɒb/

Abbreviation

mob

1. mobile phone

Usage notes

• This is most often used in signwriting to match with with the other three-letter abbreviations tel (“telephone”) and fax.

Anagrams

• bom, BoM, BOM
• OMB

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Danish

Verb

mob

1. imperative of mobbe

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French

Etymology

Abbreviated form of mobylette.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɔb/

Noun

mob f (plural mobs)

1. (colloquial) scooter, moped