staggering bob

noun

A very young calf killed for veal; meat from an animal killed when very young or otherwise unfit for eating.

First used 18th c.
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounstaggering bob (plural staggering bobs)

plural staggering bobs

  1. IrelandUKobsoleteA very young calf killed for veal; meat from an animal killed when very young or otherwise unfit for eating.First known use 18th c.

    In Liverpool they do not permit the sale of calves called ‘slink’ or ‘staggering Bob’.

    1878 April 13, Western Mail, Cardiff
    1 more example

    Wretched brutes there at the cattlemarket waiting for the poleaxe to split their skulls open. Moo. Poor trembling calves. Meh. Staggering bob.

    1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 8: Laestrygonians]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 163
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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