boob

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈbuːb/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːb

Etymology 1[edit]

Clipped form of booby (“fool”). Appeared near the beginning of the twentieth century; more information at booby § Etymology 1.

Noun[edit]

boob (plural boobs)

  1. (informal, derogatory) Idiot, fool.
    • 1914, George Vere Hobart, Boobs, as Seen by John Henry, OCLC 14521032, page 75:
      Not having an ear for music it annoys me to hear the boobs squeal.
    • 2008 April 30, “Cher: I was crazy about Tom Cruise”, in Marie Claire‎[1]:
      He said he felt like such a boob in school and nobody talked to him.
  2. (informal, Britain) A mistake.
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

boob (third-person singular simple present boobs, present participle boobing, simple past and past participle boobed)

  1. To behave stupidly; to act like a boob.
    • 1969, Colin Watson, The Flaxborough Chronicle, OCLC 26730196, page 250:
      After three hits his cleverness ran out. He boobed.
  2. (informal, intransitive) To make a mistake.
    • 1969, “Alchemy”, in The Canadian Forum, volume 49, page 211:
      ...the younger generation will not altogether be grateful for the book in which they are contained — especially when he boobs in calling the Weavers a rock ensemble.

Etymology 2[edit]

Clipped form of booby (“breast”). Appeared from the 20th century; more information at booby § Etymology 2.

Noun[edit]

boob (plural boobs)

  1. (colloquial, slang) A breast, especially that of an adult or adolescent human female.
    • 1935, James T. Farrell, Studs Lonigan; A Trilogy, OCLC 1137753551, Judgement Day:
      Tough luck. Too quick in covering to let them see her boobs.
    • 1974, Ernest Brawley, The Rap, page 256:
      Her boob had fallen out of her nightgown and now lay limp against the stained sheet.
    • 2013, Kim Haskan, Mommy Has a Boo Boo in Her Boob, book cover:
      Mommy Has a Boo Boo in Her Boob was written to help families who have been affected by breast cancer.
Derived terms[edit]
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Apparently shortened from booby-hatch.

Noun[edit]

boob (plural boobs)

  1. (Australia, US) A prison; jail. [from 20th c.]
    • 1927, William Cooper, letter, in Heiss & Minter (eds.), Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 26:
      Then he got or was brought back to Mongumber he was tired to a tree and was belted by the white officer in charge put into the boob that they have ther I think of cause we cant say for a certain was was brought out of the boob dead or nearly.
    • 1965, Mudrooroo, Wild Cat Falling, HarperCollins 2001, p. 29:
      I begin to feel homesick for the easy drifting of boob. I guess the fact is I'm afraid of life, haven't got the guts to be a real criminal.

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English boob.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

boob f (plural boobs)

  1. (slang, anglicism, chiefly in the plural) breast
    • 2014 October 30, Bertrand Ferrier, Le point de vue du panda: Le dico des mots sans dico - Humour, Max Milo, →ISBN:
      «  […] Ses premiers francs en poche, Nabilla avait foncé chez le chirurgien pour pimper ses boobs. »
      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    • 2019 February 6, Margot D. Bortoli, Projet Rebirth, BMR, →ISBN:
      Mes boobs ! je continue de m'époumoner en désignant mes seins. — Ils n'ont jamais vraiment disparu Grace... Je lui lance un regard torve et attrape mon sac et mes dossiers avant de courir vers la sortie.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)
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