gob

English

Etymology

From Middle English gobben, gabben (“to drink greedily”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant of Middle English globben (“to gulp down”), related to Middle English gulpen (“to gulp”); or alternatively related to French gober (“swallow, gulp”), from Irish and/or Scottish Gaelic gob (“beak, bill”), from Proto-Celtic *gobbos. See also gobbet.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: gŏb, IPA^(key): /ɡɒb/
• (General American) enPR: gŏb, IPA^(key): /ɡɑb/
• Rhymes: -ɒb

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

gob (countable and uncountable, plural gobs)

1. (countable) A lump of soft or sticky material.
   • 1952, The Glass Industry, Volume 33, Ashlee Publishing Company, page 309,

     These inventors have discovered that gobs may be fed at widely spaced times without allowing the glass to flow during the interval but instead flushes^[sic] out the chilled glass which accumulates during the dwell.

2. (countable, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, slang) The mouth.

   He′s always stuffing his gob with fast food.

   Oi, you, shut your gob!

   She's got such a gob on her – she′s always gossiping about someone or other.

3. (uncountable, slang) Saliva or phlegm.

   He spat a big ball of gob on to the pavement.

4. (US, military, slang) A sailor.
   • 1944 November, Fitting the Gob to the Job, Popular Mechanics, page 18,

     For the first time in history, new warship crews are virtually “prefabricated” by modern methods of fitting the gob to the job.

   • 1948 June, Fred B. Barton, Mending Broken Gobs, The Rotarian, page 22,

     Taking a safe average of 2,000 rehabilitated young gobs a year, that′s a total of 100,000 years of salvaged manhood, a target worth shooting at.

5. (uncountable, mining) Waste material in old mine workings, goaf.
   • 1930, Engineering and Mining Journal, Volume 130, page 330,

     This consisted in wheeling gob back to the most distant part of the stope and filling up the sets right up to the roof.

6. (US, regional) A whoopee pie.

Synonyms

• (the mouth):
  • (standard): mouth
  • (colloquial/slang): cakehole, face, mush, trap
• (saliva):
  • (standard): saliva, spit, sputum
  • (colloquial/slang):

Derived terms

Terms derived from gob

• gobble
• gobby
• goboon

• gobshite
• gobsmacked

• gobstopper/gob stopper/gob-stopper
• gob up

Translations

lump of soft or sticky material

• Bulgarian: буца (bg) f (buca)
• Dutch: kwak (nl), slijmerige prop,

• Finnish: möykky (fi), paakku (fi), klöntti (fi), klimppi (fi)

slang: mouth

• Bulgarian: плювалник m (pljuvalnik)
• Czech: huba (cs) f (slang)
• Dutch: smoel (nl), muil (nl) (slang)
• Finnish: turpa (fi), kita (fi), leipäläpi (fi)
• French: gueule (fr) f (slang)
• German: Schnauze (de) f (slang)

• Indonesian: bacot (id) (vulgar)
• Italian: bocca (it) f
• Javanese: bacot (jv), cocot (jv), congor (jv) (all vulgar)
• Romanian: fleancă (ro) f, plisc (ro) n, leoarbă (ro) f
• Slovak: papuľa f, huba (sk) f (slang)

slang: saliva or phlegm

• Bulgarian: плюнка f (pljunka)
• Dutch: fluim (nl), rochel (nl) (slang)
• Finnish: räkä (fi), sylki (fi)

• French: crachat (fr) m (slang)
• Italian: sputo (it) m, saliva (it) f

military slang: sailor

• Bulgarian: моряк (bg) m (morjak)
• Dutch: matroos bij de Amerikaanse Marine,
• Finnish: silakka (fi)

• French: matelot (fr) m de la Marine Américaine
• Italian: marinaio (it) m

mining: waste

• Finnish: sivukivi (fi)

Verb

gob (third-person singular simple present gobs, present participle gobbing, simple past and past participle gobbed)

1. To gather into a lump.
   • 1997 March, William G. Tapply, How to Catch a Trout on a Sandwich, Field & Stream, page 60,

     I liked to gob up two or three worms on a snelled hook, pinch three or four split shot onto the leader, and plunk it into the dark water.

2. To spit, especially to spit phlegm.
3. (mining, intransitive) To pack away waste material in order to support the walls of the mine.

Translations

to spit

• Bulgarian: плюя (bg) (pljuja)

• Finnish: sylkäistä (fi), räkäistä, räkiä (fi)

Anagrams

• BOG, bog

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish gop, from Proto-Celtic *gobbos (“mouth”) (compare French gober (“gulp down”) and gobelet (“goblet”) from Gaulish) from Proto-Indo-European *ǵebʰ- (“jaw, mouth”); compare jowl from Old English ċēafl; German Kiefer (“jaw”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔbˠ/

Noun

gob m (genitive singular goib, nominative plural goba)

1. beak, bill (of a bird etc.)
2. tip, point, projection
3. pointy nose
4. nib
5. (colloquial) mouth

   Dún do ghob!

   Shut your mouth!

Declension

Declension of gob

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative gob ga Vocative a ghoib a ghoba Genitive goib gob Dative gob ga

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an gob na ga Genitive an ghoib na ngob Dative leis an ngob don ghob leis na ga

Derived terms

• gobadán m (“nosey parker”)
• gob siosúir m (“scissor-bill; beak-nosed person”)

Verb

gob (present analytic gobann, future analytic gobfaidh, verbal noun gobadh, past participle gobtha)

1. peck (as a bird etc.)
2. project, stick out, up

Conjugation

First Conjugation (A)

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	gobaim	gobann tú; gobair†	gobann sé, sí	gobaimid	gobann sibh	gobann siad; gobaid†	a ghobann; a ghobas / a ngobann*; a ngobas*	gobtar
	past	ghob mé; ghobas	ghob tú; ghobais	ghob sé, sí	ghobamar; ghob muid	ghob sibh; ghobabhair	ghob siad; ghobadar	a ghob / ar ghob*	gobadh
	past habitual	ghobainn	ghobtá	ghobadh sé, sí	ghobaimis; ghobadh muid	ghobadh sibh	ghobaidís; ghobadh siad	a ghobadh / ar ghobadh*	ghobtaí
	future	gobfaidh mé; gobfad	gobfaidh tú; gobfair†	gobfaidh sé, sí	gobfaimid; gobfaidh muid	gobfaidh sibh	gobfaidh siad; gobfaid†	a ghobfaidh; a ghobfas / a ngobfaidh*; a ngobfas*	gobfar
conditional		ghobfainn / ngobfainn‡‡	ghobfá / ngobfᇇ	ghobfadh sé, sí / ngobfadh sé, s퇇	ghobfaimis; ghobfadh muid / ngobfaimis‡‡; ngobfadh muid‡‡	ghobfadh sibh / ngobfadh sibh‡‡	ghobfaidís; ghobfadh siad / ngobfaidís‡‡; ngobfadh siad‡‡	a ghobfadh / ar ghobfadh*	ghobfaí / ngobfa퇇
subjunctive	present	go ngoba mé; go ngobad†	go ngoba tú; go ngobair†	go ngoba sé, sí	go ngobaimid; go ngoba muid	go ngoba sibh	go ngoba siad; go ngobaid†	—	go ngobtar
	past	dá ngobainn	dá ngobtá	dá ngobadh sé, sí	dá ngobaimis; dá ngobadh muid	dá ngobadh sibh	dá ngobaidís; dá ngobadh siad	—	dá ngobtaí
imperative		gobaim	gob	gobadh sé, sí	gobaimis	gobaigí; gobaidh†	gobaidís	—	gobtar
verbal noun		gobadh
past participle		gobtha

* Indirect relative
† Archaic or dialect form
‡‡ Dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
gob	ghob	ngob
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• "gob" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• “gop” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish gop, from Proto-Celtic *gobbos (“mouth”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵebʰ- (“jaw, mouth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kop/

Noun

gob m (genitive singular guib, plural guib or goban)

1. bill, beak, nib, tip

   duilleag na ghob ― a leaf in its bill

   gob circe ― a hen's bill

   gob pinn ― nib of a pen

   gob na stocainn ― a tip of the sock

2. point

   gob an rubha ― the point of the headland

   gob na snàthaide ― the point of the needle

3. mouth

   gob na cùiteige ― the mouth of the whiting

4. garrulity
5. babble

Derived terms

Terms derived from gob

• glas-ghuib
• gobaire

• pìos àrd a' ghuib

• pìos ìosal a' ghuib

References

• Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• “gop” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (John Grant, Edinburgh, 1925, Compiled by Malcolm MacLennan)