from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Mob \Mob\, n. [L. mobile vulgus, the movable common people. See
{Mobile}, n.]
1. The lower classes of a community; the populace, or the
lowest part of it.
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A cluster of mob were making themselves merry with
their betters. --Addison.
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2. Hence: A throng; a rabble; esp., an unlawful or riotous
assembly; a disorderly crowd.
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The mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease. --Pope.
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Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every
Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.
--Madison.
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Confused by brainless mobs. --Tennyson.
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3. A criminal organization or organized criminal gangs,
collectively; the Mafia; the syndicate; as, he was a
lawyer for the mob.
[PJC]
{Mob law}, law administered by the mob; lynch law.
{Swell mob}, well dressed thieves and swindlers, regarded
collectively. [Slang] --Dickens.
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