as in shaving
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument
bobbed her waist-length hair herself on her 18th birthday
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as in slapping
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
he playfully bobbed his brother on the nose to get his attention
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Recent Examples of bobbing
Miles Doran, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026
The walk, which made the woodcock a viral hit on social media, consists of the bird shimmying and bobbing its head.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
That sketch spawned the 1998 film A Night at the Roxbury, and the car-bobbing scene became one of the internet’s earliest viral memes.
—Ryan Brennan
april 8, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026
Alteration requests with such a price disparity would have seemed odd a few years ago, the tailor says, but are helping to keep the bobbins bobbing at his one-man shop, 85 Custom Tailor.
—Anne D’innocenzio, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2026
Almost immediately, the dog begins bobbing her head, tracking the rhythm and sounds as if something deeply familiar has clicked back into place.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2026
Rare was the creative artist, post-1970, who wasn’t churned up by bobbing in the Beatles’ wake.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026
Little wonder, then, that the 2026 Padres are viewed as a sea-level performer, bobbing in San Diego Bay.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2026
Even as the Hudson Theatre was still filling up, the star of the Harry Potter movie franchise (and much theater after that) was bobbing and flitting from row to row, exuding equal parts friendliness and determination of purpose.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026
Verb
Once Orion is deemed safe to approach, Navy divers can bring their boats up against the bobbing capsule and members of the 16- to 20-person team jump into the water and begin attaching hardware to steady the capsule and prepare it for crew extraction and recovery.
—Miles Doran, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026
The walk, which made the woodcock a viral hit on social media, consists of the bird shimmying and bobbing its head.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
That sketch spawned the 1998 film A Night at the Roxbury, and the car-bobbing scene became one of the internet’s earliest viral memes.
—Ryan Brennan
april 8, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026
Alteration requests with such a price disparity would have seemed odd a few years ago, the tailor says, but are helping to keep the bobbins bobbing at his one-man shop, 85 Custom Tailor.
—Anne D’innocenzio, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2026
Almost immediately, the dog begins bobbing her head, tracking the rhythm and sounds as if something deeply familiar has clicked back into place.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2026
Rare was the creative artist, post-1970, who wasn’t churned up by bobbing in the Beatles’ wake.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026
Little wonder, then, that the 2026 Padres are viewed as a sea-level performer, bobbing in San Diego Bay.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2026
Even as the Hudson Theatre was still filling up, the star of the Harry Potter movie franchise (and much theater after that) was bobbing and flitting from row to row, exuding equal parts friendliness and determination of purpose.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bobbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bobbing. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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