cob

noun

ˈkäb

Synonyms of cob next

[perhaps short for cobswan lead swan] : a male swan

dialectal, England : a rounded mass, lump, or heap

: a mixture of unburned clay and straw used especially for constructing walls of small houses in England

: a crudely struck old Spanish coin of irregular shape

—often used before another noun

a cob dollar

: corncob sense 1

: a stocky short-legged riding horse

Example Sentences

She used a knife to cut the corn from the cob. We had corn on the cob.

Recent Examples on the Web The packaging includes nine pounds of corn cob litter, a removable automatic rake, a scoop and rake cleaner, and a waste receptacle with carbon filters. —

Andrea Marie, PEOPLE.com, 22 June 2021 Corn, sheared from the sides of a cob so that the kernels remain attached to one another in filets, are battered and fried. —

Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2023 Healey bought radishes, beets, red lettuce, and corn cob popcorn from The Neighborhood Farm. —

Laura Crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, 16 July 2022 Some wizened cob buildings, dating back centuries, can be found in the United Kingdom’s Devon County, for instance. —

Doug Johnson, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2021 When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut the kernels off the cob. —

Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 22 Apr. 2021 Building the walls of a garden shed or garden building from cob, adobe, or straw bales, to name a few eco-friendly and sustainable examples, can give you a building that is unique and truly functional and fit for purpose. —

Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 23 Mar. 2023 No corn to come off the cob. —

Anne Fadiman, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Feb. 2023 It’s made entirely of natural cob, a mixture of Highgrove clay and barley straw, creating a muted color that blends in with the surrounding Cotswold stone. —

Rachel Silva, ELLE Decor, 27 Sep. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cob.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English cobbe leader of a group, head; probably akin to cub (young animal), Middle English kebbe old cow or sheep, Dutch dialect kabbe, kebbe piglet

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of cob was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century