I. ˈmäb noun
( -s )
1.
[origin unknown]
obsolete : undress , dishabille
2.
[perhaps modification of obsolete Dutch mop woman's cap]
: mobcap
II. verb
( mobbed ; mobbed ; mobbing ; mobs )
transitive verb
1.
[perhaps back-formation from moble ]
archaic : to muffle the head of (as in a hood)
2.
[ mob (I) ]
archaic : to dress (oneself) negligently
intransitive verb
archaic : to go to an unfashionable place disguised or so dressed as to avoid recognition
III. noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: short for mobile (III)
1. : the lower classes of a community : the populace or the lower part of it : masses
the use of superstition for the purpose of policing the mob — Benjamin Farrington
political spellbinding to appeal to the mob mind
2.
a. : a large and disorderly collection of people tending to acts of violence
windows smashed and police beaten by the angry mob
a fear of mob rule
b. obsolete : people in a large disorderly group — used without an article
the lane was full of mob and the house so full we could not get in — Horace Walpole
3. chiefly Australia : a flock, drove, or herd of animals
4.
a. : a criminal set or organization (as of pickpockets or gangsters) : gang
b. : clique , set
Synonyms: see crowd
IV. verb
( mobbed ; mobbed ; mobbing ; mobs )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to crowd about and attack or annoy
mobbed by autograph hunters before he could enter the theater
: attack in a mob
a crowd tried to mob him and he ran for safety into the superintendent's office — H.S.Warner
b. : to crowd into or around
bargain hunters that mob the stores on sale days
2. dialect England : to rail at : scold , abuse
3. : to hunt (as a fox) in such a way as to allow the quarry no chance to escape (as by surrounding it)
intransitive verb
: to form a disorderly mob : crowd or riot in a mob
the waiting newsmen mobbed forward — Newsweek
V. abbreviation
1. mobile
2. mobilization; mobilized