from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Cob \Cob\, n. [Cf. AS. cop, copp, head, top, D. kop, G. kopf,
kuppe, LL. cuppa cup (cf. E. brainpan), and also W. cob tuft,
spider, cop, copa, top, summit, cobio to thump. Cf. {Cop}
top, {Cup}, n.]
1. The top or head of anything. [Obs.] --W. Gifford.
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2. A leader or chief; a conspicuous person, esp. a rich
covetous person. [Obs.]
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All cobbing country chuffs, which make their bellies
and their bags their god, are called rich cobs.
--Nash.
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3. The axis on which the kernels of maize or indian corn
grow. [U. S.]
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4. (Zool.) A spider; perhaps from its shape; it being round
like a head.
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5. (Zool.) A young herring. --B. Jonson.
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6. (Zool.) A fish; -- also called {miller's thumb}.
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7. A short-legged and stout horse, esp. one used for the
saddle. [Eng.]
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8. (Zool.) A sea mew or gull; esp., the black-backed gull
({Larus marinus}). [Written also {cobb}.]
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9. A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large
size, as of coal, or stone.
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10. A cobnut; as, Kentish cobs. See {Cobnut}. [Eng.]
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11. Clay mixed with straw. [Prov. Eng.]
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The poor cottager contenteth himself with cob for
his walls, and thatch for his covering. --R. Carew.
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12. A punishment consisting of blows inflictod on tho
buttocas with a strap or a flat piece of wood. --Wright.
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13. A Spanish coin formerly current in Ireland, worth abiut
4s. 6d. [Obs.] --Wright.
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{Cob coal}, coal in rounded lumps from the size of an egg to
that of a football; -- called also {cobbles}. --Grose.
{Cob loaf}, a crusty, uneven loaf, rounded at top. --Wright.
{Cob money}, a kind of rudely coined gold and silver money of
Spanish South America in the eighteenth century. The coins
were of the weight of the piece of eight, or one of its
aliquot parts.
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