Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large and often disorderly crowd. synonym: crowd.
  • noun The mass of common people; the populace.
  • noun Informal A criminal organization, especially the Mafia operating in the United States.
  • noun An indiscriminate or loosely associated group of things.
  • noun Australian A flock or herd of animals.
  • transitive verb To crowd around and jostle or annoy, especially in anger or excessive enthusiasm.
  • transitive verb To crowd into.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A mob-cap.
  • To conceal or cover, as the face, by a cap or hood.
  • To dress awkwardly.
  • To attack in a disorderly crowd; crowd round and annoy; beset tumultuously, whether from curiosity or with hostile intent: as, to mob a person in the street.
  • To scold.
  • noun The common mass of people; the multitude; hence, a promiscuous aggregation of people in any rank of life; an incoherent, rude, or disorderly crowd; rabble.
  • noun A riotous assemblage; a crowd of persons gathered for mischief or attack; a promiscuous multitude of rioters.
  • noun A herd, as of horses or cattle; a flock, as of sheep.
  • noun Synonyms Rabble, etc. See populace.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A mobcap.
  • transitive verb rare To wrap up in, or cover with, a cowl.
  • transitive verb To crowd about, as a mob, and attack or annoy.
  • noun The lower classes of a community; the populace, or the lowest part of it.
  • noun A throng; a rabble; esp., an unlawful or riotous assembly; a disorderly crowd.
  • noun law administered by the mob; lynch law.
  • noun [Slang] well dressed thieves and swindlers, regarded collectively.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • abbreviation mobile phone
  • noun An unruly group of people.
  • noun A commonly used collective noun for animals such as horses or cattle.
  • noun The Mafia, or a similar group that engages in organized crime (preceded by the).
  • noun video games A non-player character that exists to be fought or killed to further the progression of the story or game.
  • verb transitive To crowd around (someone), often with hostility.
  • verb transitive To crowd into or around a place.
  • verb video games The act of a player aggroing enemies so they follow them and gather, forming a mob of foes.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an association of criminals
  • verb press tightly together or cram
  • noun a disorderly crowd of people
  • noun a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Short for mobile, from Latin mōbile (vulgus), fickle (crowd), neuter of mōbilis; see mobile.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Abbreviation of mobile phone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Alteration of mab.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English, short for mobile, from Latin mōbile (vulgus) ("fickle (crowd)"). The video-gaming sense originates from English mobile, used by Richard Bartle for objects capable of movement in an early MUD.

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Examples

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  • "In the mob-ridden town of Lamezia Terme, he says, police patrols have had to be reduced to save petrol. 'The police cars are in such bad condition that during a recent chase one of them caught fire.'" - Enzo Macri in 'Move Over, Cosa Nostra', The Guardian, 8 Jun 2006.

    December 16, 2007

  • Mobile Regional Airport.

    October 23, 2008