Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
lob 1[lob] ExamplesWord Origin verb (used with object), lobbed, lob·bing.
- Tennis. to hit (a ball) in a high arc to the back of the opponent’s court.
- to fire (a missile, as a shell) in a high trajectory so that it drops onto a target.
- Cricket. to bowl (the ball) with a slow underhand motion.
- to throw (something) slowly in an arc.
verb (used without object), lobbed, lob·bing.
- Tennis. to lob a ball.
noun
- Tennis. a ball hit in a high arc to the back of the opponent’s court.
- Cricket. a ball bowled with a slow underhand motion.
- British Dialect. a slow, heavy, dull-witted person.
Origin of lob 1 1325–75; in earlier sense, to behave like a lob (Middle English lobbe, lob bumpkin, clumsy person, orig. pollack; Old English: spider; basic sense, something pendulous); cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch lobbe dangling part, stockfish, etc.Related formslob·ber, noun Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Related Words for lobbing flip, loft, hurl, project, launch, chuck, propel, pitch Examples from the Web for lobbing Contemporary Examples of lobbing
Admittedly, the rationale for the Gulf War was stronger than the motivation for lobbing missiles at the Assad regime.
Obama Needs a Friend in Congress—Like Bush Had
Lloyd Green
September 10, 2013
Will lobbing cruise missiles into Syria only make a bad situation worse?
How the Obama Administration Reversed Course on Syria Strikes
Eleanor Clift, Josh Rogin
August 29, 2013
Mr. Kagan resigned the deanship in April 1992, lobbing a parting bomb at the faculty that bucked his administration.
Donald Kagan on Western Civilization
David Frum
April 29, 2013
In my column for CNN, I detail why lobbing slurs and insults at Sandra Fluke only emboldens her cause.
Slurs only bolster Sandra Fluke’s cause
David Frum
September 11, 2012
In truth, Gingrich was a backbencher during the Reagan years, lobbing bombshells at the White House in addition to Democrats.
Eleanor Clift
September 1, 2011
Historical Examples of lobbing
Soon he was smoothly receiving the pitcher’s curves and lobbing them back.
Albert Walter Tolman
He defeated Ware by playing a lobbing game whenever he could.
Harper’s Round Table, September 3, 1895
Various
I am now quite envious of the accuracy of my lobbing in those days.
Mrs. Lambert Chambers
A third had gone down under a sabre-cut, but had staggered up and was lobbing after his comrades at a painful canter.
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
They gave one deep howl, and settled down to the long, lobbing canter that can at the last run down anything that runs.
Rudyard Kipling
British Dictionary definitions for lobbing lob 1 noun
- a ball struck in a high arc
- cricket a ball bowled in a slow high arc
verb lobs, lobbing or lobbed
- to hit or kick (a ball) in a high arc
- informal to throw, esp in a high arc
Word Origin for lob C14: probably of Low German origin, originally in the sense: something dangling; compare Middle Low German lobbe hanging lower lip, Old English loppe spider lob 2 noun
- short for lobworm
Word Origin for lob C17 (in the sense: pendulous object): related to lob 1 Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for lobbing lob v.
“send up in a slow, high arc,” 1824 (implied in lobbing), but the word existed 16c. in various senses suggesting heavy, pendant, or floppy things, and probably is ultimately from an unrecorded Old English word; cf. East Frisian lobbe “hanging lump of flesh,” Dutch lob “hanging lip, ruffle, hanging sleeve,” Danish lobbes “clown, bumpkin.” Related: Lobbed; lobbing. The noun in this sense is from 1875, from the verb.
lob n.
a word of widespread application to lumpish things, probably in Old English. Cf. Middle Dutch, Middle Low German lobbe, Old Norse lubba. From late 13c. as a surname; meaning “pollack” is from early 14c.; that of “lazy lout” is from late 14c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
