*cob*

n. [ Cf. AS. cop, copp, head, top, D. kop, G. kopf, kuppe, LL. cuppa cup (cf. E. brainpan), and also W. cob tuft, spider, cop, copa, top, summit, cobio to thump. Cf. Cop top, Cup, n. ] 1. The top or head of anything. [ Obs. ] W. Gifford. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A leader or chief; a conspicuous person, esp. a rich covetous person. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

All cobbing country chuffs, which make their bellies and their bags their god, are called rich cobs. Nash. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The axis on which the kernels of maize or indian corn grow. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) A spider; perhaps from its shape; it being round like a head. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) A young herring. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) A fish; -- also called miller's thumb. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A short-legged and stout horse, esp. one used for the saddle. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Zool.) A sea mew or gull; esp., the black-backed gull (Larus marinus). [ Written also cobb. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large size, as of coal, or stone. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A cobnut; as, Kentish cobs. See Cobnut. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

11. Clay mixed with straw. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The poor cottager contenteth himself with cob for his walls, and thatch for his covering. R. Carew. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. A punishment consisting of blows inflictod on tho buttocas with a strap or a flat piece of wood. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. A Spanish coin formerly current in Ireland, worth abiut 4s. 6d. [ Obs. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cob coal, coal in rounded lumps from the size of an egg to that of a football; -- called also cobbles. Grose. --
Cob loaf, a crusty, uneven loaf, rounded at top. Wright. --
Cob money, a kind of rudely coined gold and silver money of Spanish South America in the eighteenth century. The coins were of the weight of the piece of eight, or one of its aliquot parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cobbed p. pr. & vb. n. Cobbing. ] 1. To strike [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mining) To break into small pieces, as ore, so as to sort out its better portions. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) To punish by striking on the buttocks with a strap, a flat piece of wood, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. [ Named after D. Cobo, a Spanish botanist. ] A genus of climbing plants, native of Mexico and South America. Cobaea scandens (called cup-and-saucer vine, monastery bells, or Mexican ivy) is a conservatory climber with large bell-shaped flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G. kobalt, prob. fr. kobold, kobel, goblin, MHG. kobolt; perh. akin to G. koben pigsty, hut, AS. cofa room, cofgodas household gods, Icel. kofi hut. If so, the ending -old stands for older -walt, -wald, being the same as -ald in E. herald and the word would mean ruler or governor in a house, house spirit, the metal being so called by miners, because it was poisonous and troublesome. Cf. Kobold, Cove, Goblin. ] 1. (Chem.) A tough, lustrous, reddish white metal of the iron group, not easily fusible, and somewhat magnetic. Atomic weight 59.1. Symbol Co. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It occurs in nature in combination with arsenic, sulphur, and oxygen, and is obtained from its ores, smaltite, cobaltite, asbolite, etc. Its oxide colors glass or any flux, as borax, a fine blue, and is used in the manufacture of smalt. It is frequently associated with nickel, and both are characteristic ingredients of meteoric iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A commercial name of a crude arsenic used as fly poison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cobalt bloom. Same as Erythrite. --
Cobalt blue, a dark blue pigment consisting of some salt of cobalt, as the phosphate, ignited with alumina; -- called also cobalt ultramarine, and Thenard's blue. --
Cobalt crust, earthy arseniate of cobalt. --
Cobalt glance. (Min.) See Cobaltite. --
Cobalt green, a pigment consisting essentially of the oxides of cobalt and zinc; -- called also Rinman's green. --
Cobalt yellow (Chem.), a yellow crystalline powder, regarded as a double nitrite of cobalt and potassium. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. cobaltique. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or containing, cobalt; -- said especially of those compounds in which cobalt has higher valence; as, cobaltic oxide. [ 1913 Webster ]

Luteo-cobaltic compounds (Chem.), an extensive series of complex yellow compounds of ammonia and cobaltic salts. --
Roseo-cobaltic compounds (Chem.), an extensive series of complex red compounds of cobalt and ammonia. Modifications of these are the purpureo-cobaltic compounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cobalt + -ferous. ] (Min.) Containing cobalt. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ n. (Min.) A mineral of a nearly silver-white color, composed of arsenic, sulphur, and cobalt. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or containing, cobalt; -- said esp. of cobalt compounds in which the metal has its lower valence. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cobaltous chloride, a crystalline compound, CoCl2, of a pale rose color when hydrous, blue when dehydrated. Its solution is used for a sympathetic ink, the writing being nearly colorless when dried in the air, owing to absorbed moisture, and becoming bright blue when warmed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Haughty; purse-proud. See Cob, n., 2. [ Obs. ] Withals (1608). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A fishing boat. See Coble. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Cob a lump. See Cob, n., 9, and cf. Copple, Copplestone. ] 1. A cobblestone. “Their slings held cobbles round.” Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. Cob coal. See under Cob. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cobbled p. pr. & vb. n. Cobbling ] [ OF. cobler, copler, to join or knit together, couple, F. coupler, L. copulare to couple, join. Cf. Couple, n. & v. t. ] 1. To make or mend coarsely; to patch; to botch; as, to cobble shoes. Shak. “A cobbled saddle.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make clumsily. “Cobbled rhymes.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To pave with cobblestones. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A mender of shoes. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A clumsy workman. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A beverage. See Sherry cobbler, under Sherry. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cobbler fish (Zool.), a marine fish (Blepharis crinitus) of the Atlantic. The name alludes to its threadlike fin rays. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A large pebble; a rounded stone not too large to be handled; a small boulder; -- used for paving streets and for other purposes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Cob, n. ] 1. Headstrong; obstinate. [ Obs. ] Brockett. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Stout; hearty; lively. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Carrying on war in conjunction with another power. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A nation or state that carries on war in connection with another. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An oceanic fish of large size (Elacate canada); the crabeater; -- called also bonito, cubbyyew, coalfish, and sergeant fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Cob the top. ] An andiron with a knob at the top. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A joint or coadjutant bishop. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. cuopel; cf. W. ceubal skiff, ferryboat. ] A flat-floored fishing boat with a lug sail, and a drop rudder extending from two to four feet below the keel. It was originally used on the stormy coast of Yorkshire, England. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Com.) A large roundish variety of the cultivated hazelnut. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A game played by children with nuts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Caboose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Named from the town of Coburg in Germany. ] A thin worsted fabric for women's dresses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The cobra de capello. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Copra. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ Pg., serpent of the hood. ] (Zool.) The hooded snake (Naia tripudians), a highly venomous serpent inhabiting India. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Cobblestone. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A large swan. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cob clay mixed with straw + wall. ] A wall made of clay mixed with straw. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cob a spider + web. ] 1. The network spread by a spider to catch its prey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A snare of insidious meshes designed to catch the ignorant and unwary. [ 1913 Webster ]

I can not but lament thy splendid wit
Entangled in the cobwebs of the schools. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; rubbish. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dust and cobwebs of that uncivil age. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) The European spotted flycatcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cobweb lawn, a fine linen, mentioned in 1640 as being in pieces of fifteen yards. Beck. Draper's Dict. [ 1913 Webster ] Such a proud piece of cobweb lawn. Beau. & Fl. --
Cobweb micrometer, a micrometer in which threads of cobweb are substituted for wires. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abounding in cobwebs. “The cobwebbed cottage.” Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abounding in cobwebs, or any fine web; resembling a cobweb. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Built of logs, etc., laid horizontally, with the ends dovetailed together at the corners, as in a log house; in marine work, often surrounding a central space filled with stones; as, a cobwork dock or breakwater. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Coccobacteria [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; a grain + NL. bacterium. So called from its round shape. ] (Biol.) One of the round variety of bacteria, a vegetable organism, generally less than a thousandth of a millimeter in diameter. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖, n. [ Sp. cocobolo. ] (Bot.) A very beautiful and hard wood, obtained in the West India Islands. It is used in cabinetmaking, for the handles of tools, and for various fancy articles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The cob or axis on which the kernels of Indian corn grow. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a pipe{ 3 } for smoking tobacco with a bowl made from a corncob. [ PJC ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; disk + &unr_; to grow. ] (Biol.) Applied to a form of egg cleavage seen in osseous fishes, which occurs only in a small disk that separates from the rest of the egg. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Discoboli [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;; &unr_; a discu + &unr_; to throw. ] (Fine Arts) (a) A thrower of the discus. (b) A statue of an athlete holding the discus, or about to throw it. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The Discobolus of Myron was a famous statue of antiquity, and several copies or imitations of it have been preserved. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. using the technical language of ecology to make the user seem ecologically aware. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. Jacob. See 2d Jack. ] A Hebrew patriarch (son of Isaac, and ancestor of the Jews), who in a vision saw a ladder reaching up to heaven (Gen. xxviii. 12); -- also called Israel. [ 1913 Webster ]

And Jacob said . . . with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Gen. xxxii. 9, 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. Gen. xxxii. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jacob's ladder. (a) (Bot.) A perennial herb of the genus Polemonium (Polemonium cœruleum), having corymbs of drooping flowers, usually blue. Gray. (b) (Naut.) A rope ladder, with wooden steps, for going aloft. R. H. Dana, Jr. (c) (Naut.) A succession of short cracks in a defective spar. --
Jacob's membrane. See Retina. --
Jacob's staff. (a) A name given to many forms of staff or weapon, especially in the Middle Ages; a pilgrim's staff. [ Obs. ] Spenser. (b) (Surveying) See under Staff. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ See Jacobean. ] (Bot.) A bulbous plant (Amaryllis formosissima syn. Sprekelia formosissima) from Mexico. It bears a single, large, deep, red, lilylike flower. [ Written also Jacobean. ]

n. any distinguished personage during the reign of James I of England. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. [ From L. Jacobus James. See 2d Jack. ] Of or pertaining to James the First, of England, or of his reign or times; especially, pertaining to a style of architecture and decoration popular in the time of James I.; as, Jacobean writers. “A Jacobean table.” C. L. Eastlake. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. See 2d Jack, Jacobite. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Eccl. Hist.) A Dominican friar; -- so named because, before the French Revolution, that order had a convent in the Rue St. Jacques, Paris. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of a society of violent agitators in France, during the revolution of 1789, who held secret meetings in the Jacobin convent in the Rue St. Jacques, Paris, and concerted measures to control the proceedings of the National Assembly. Hence: A plotter against an existing government; a turbulent demagogue. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A fancy pigeon, in which the feathers of the neck form a hood, -- whence the name. The wings and tail are long, and the beak moderately short. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Same as Jacobinic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A Jacobin.