cob

noun

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\ ˈkäb

Definition of cob

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

2a dialectal, England : a rounded mass, lump, or heap

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

3 : a crudely struck old Spanish coin of irregular shape —often used before another nouna cob dollar

4 : corncob sense 1

5 : a stocky short-legged riding horse

Examples of cob in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web My memories start to blur when Robby brought out corn on the cob, inexplicably, as a dessert. — Sebastian Modak, New York Times, "We Put Hong Kong on the 52 Places to Go List. Things Got Complicated.," 19 Nov. 2019 Many cooks make this dish year round with frozen corn, but kernels cut from cobs picked at your local farm is the best way. — Karoline Boehm Goodnick, BostonGlobe.com, "Recipe: An eggy batter with native corn, cream, and cornmeal turns into a savory summer custard," 13 Aug. 2019 Corn on the cob—while delicious—is for suckers and people who love having stuff in their teeth. — Billy Cadden, Popular Science, "The best kitchen tools to seriously improve your cooking," 19 Aug. 2019 Before cooking corn on the cob, grab a dampened paper towel and brush downward on the ear of corn. — Washington Post, "Hints From Heloise: Moving the masses," 14 Oct. 2019 The list includes turkey skin, turkey bones, gravy, sage, raisins/grapes, onions and garlic, nuts and nutmeg, mushrooms, fat trimmings, corn on the cob, chocolate, butter, candied yams, bread dough and, of course, alcohol. — Carol Kovach, cleveland, "Christmas at the Farm, parade, Frosty’s Fest kick off Christmas season in Parma: Sun Postings," 25 Nov. 2019 The rain and the sun no longer balance, complains one farmer, Zaituni Mudondo, banging a maize cob on the ground. — The Economist, "Better seeds could help African farmers grow far more," 28 Sep. 2019 Cut corn off the cob quickly and neatly by holding it steady with a bundt pan. — Jane Maynard, Cosmopolitan, "17 Life-Changing Cooking Hacks," 23 Apr. 2014 Vendors selling corn on the cob with kernels big enough to break off and eat one at a time. — Nell Zink, Harper's magazine, "The Bird Angle," 28 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cob.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

15 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Cob.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cob?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=c&file=cob00001. Accessed 20 Feb. 2020.

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