fob

See also: FOB, F.O.B., F. O. B., -fob, and -fób

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: fŏb, IPA^(key): /fɒb/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒb

Etymology 1

From Low German Fobke (“pocket”) or High Prussian Fuppe (“pocket”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

fob (plural fobs)

1. 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.
   • 1711, Jonathan Swift, Windsor Prophecy:

     With a saint at his chin and a seal at his fob.

   • 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, volume VII, Fragment:

     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 […] .

2. A short chain or ribbon to connect such a pocket to the watch.
3. (see usage notes) A small ornament attached to such a chain.
4. 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.

Derived terms

• fob watch
• key fob

Translations

little pocket near waistline — see watch pocket

chain or ribbon

• Bulgarian: ланец (bg) m (lanec)
• Czech: řetízek kapesních hodinek
• Danish: urkæde c, kæde c, bånd (da) n
• Finnish: kellonperät pl, kellonvitja
• French: châtelaine (fr) f
• German: Uhrkette (de) f
• Greek: καδένα (el) f (kadéna)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: urkjede m

• Polish: łańcuszek (pl) n
• Portuguese: corrente (pt) f
• Russian: цепо́чка для карма́нных часо́в f (cepóčka dlja karmánnyx časóv)
• Spanish: leontina (es) f
• Swedish: klockkedja c

ornament

• Belarusian: бірулька f (birulʹka)
• German: Schlüsselanhänger (de) m
• Polish: brelok (pl) m
• Portuguese: berloque (pt) m
• Romanian: breloc (ro) n
• Russian: брело́к (ru) m (brelók)
• Swedish: berlock (sv) c

remote control for locking and unlocking a vehicle

• Danish: fjernbetjening (da) c (til bil eller lignende)
• Finnish: kauko-ohjain
• French: bip (fr) m
• German: Funkschlüssel m
• Russian: брело́к дистанцио́нного управле́ния m (brelók distanciónnovo upravlénija)
• Swedish: fjärrnyckel c, bilnyckel (sv) c

Etymology 2

From German foppen (“to mock”).

Alternative forms

• fub

Verb

fob (third-person singular simple present fobs, present participle fobbing, simple past and past participle fobbed)

1. (transitive, archaic) To cheat, to deceive, to trick, to take in, to impose upon someone.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fobbed in it.

2. (transitive, archaic) To beat; to maul.

Derived terms

• to fob off

Translations

To cheat, to trick

• Bulgarian: измамвам (bg) (izmamvam), пробутвам (bg) (probutvam)
• Danish: prakke
• Spanish: engatusar (es)

References

• Robert Hunter, Charles Morris, editors (1897), Universal Dictionary of the English Language, volume 2, page 2146

Etymology 3

Abbreviation.

Adjective

fob (not comparable)

1. (Incoterm) Alternative letter-case form of FOB (“free on board”)

Anagrams

• BOF, F. B. O., F.B.O., F/B/O, FBO