bob up

verb

To rise to the surface; to ascend to the surface and remain floating there.

“That's when he bobbed up again and ruined everything.”

Similar
arisecome up
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Meanings

verbbob up (third-person singular simple present bobs up, present participle bobbing up, simple past and past participle bobbed up)

present singular third person bobs up · participle present bobbing up · participle past bobbed up · past bobbed up

  1. intransitiveTo rise to the surface; to ascend to the surface and remain floating there.

    He bobbed up and flailed toward the near bank. The weight of his boots and soaked uniform kept pulling him under.

    2011, Curt Iles, A Spent Bullet: Louisiana 1941, page 125
  2. broadlyfigurativelyintransitiveTo appear or arrive unexpectedly.

    That's when he bobbed up again and ruined everything.

Synonyms & antonyms

verboriginate or come into being

Similar
arisecome up
Broader
become
Also see
arisecome up

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

bob up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bob%20up

MLA

“bob up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bob%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bob up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bob%20up.

Source: bob up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.