fob

plural fobs

1. A little pocket near the waistline of a pair of trousers or in a waistcoat or vest to hold money or valuables, especially a pocket watch.

   With a saint at his chin and a seal at his fob.

   1711, Jonathan Swift, Windsor Prophecy

   1 more example

   As soon as they had confined my arms they left me, and remembering the bank-notes which I had in my fob, I began to fear they had come to the knowledge of this circumstance […].

   1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, volume VII, Fragment

2. A short chain or ribbon to connect such a pocket to the watch.
3. A small ornament attached to such a chain.

   fob seal

4. modern usageA hand-held electronic device that can be used as a remote control or as a key to unlock motor cars, doors, etc., and thus, modern car keys.

present singular third person fobs · participle present fobbing · participle past fobbed · past fobbed · alternative fub

1. archaictransitiveTo cheat, to deceive, to trick, to take in, to impose upon someone.

   I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fobbed in it.

   c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

2. archaictransitiveTo beat; to maul.

1. not comparableAlternative letter-case form of FOB (“free on board”).

alternative F.O.B. · alternative F. O. B. · alternative fob

1. abbreviationinitialismnot comparableInitialism of free on board.
2. abbreviationinitialismnot comparableslangInitialism of fresh off the boat.

   All I knew was, the three-year gap made the difference between passing as American and being exposed as FOB.

   2022, Ling Ma, “G”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN

plural FOBs · alternative F.O.B. · alternative F. O. B. · alternative fob

1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablegovernmentInitialism of forward operating base.
2. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of flash of brilliance.
3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of freedom of belief.
4. USabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablegovernmentInitialism of friend of Bill: a supporter of Bill Clinton.

   It seemed at times that everyone was an FOB — everyone, that is, who'd emerged from the ivyest groves of academia […]

   2007, David Lebedoff, The Uncivil War: How a New Elite Is Destroying Our Democracy, page 133

5. IndiaabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of foot overbridge: a pedestrian overpass.

   1 more example

   There has been an inordinate delay in starting work on the foot over bridge (FOB) with escalators in front of D.G. Vaishnav College on Poonamallee High Road in Arumbakkam. […] The FOB at P.H. Road, which is maintained by the state highways department, is one of seven similar facilities planned at various places in the city at a cost of Rs. 28 crore and being executed by the department.

   2014 August 30, D. Madhavan, “Need for foot over bridge keenly felt”, in The Hindu

6. abbreviationcountablederogatoryinitialismsometimesuncountableInitialism of fresh off the boat, a recent immigrant.

   Everyone was Chinese. Some of the students were ABCs. That means "American-born Chinese." Others were FOBs. FOB means "fresh off the boat" and it is a bad insult. I didn't feel prejudiced about the FOBs because I was one of them.

   1993, Susan Kulkin, Speaking Out: Teenagers Take on Race, Sex, and Identity, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 59

   Synonyms: freshie, greener, new chum, blow-in, come-here, comeling, entrant, fresh meat

7. abbreviationcountableuncountablemedicineAbbreviation of fecal occult blood.
8. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of father of the bride.

alternative F.O.B. · alternative F. O. B. · alternative fob

1. abbreviationinitialismentertainmentInitialism of Fall Out Boy, an American pop-punk band formed in Chicago.