bobber

English

various styles of bobbers

Etymology

From the verb, bob +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒbə(ɹ)

Noun

bobber (plural bobbers)

1. One who takes part in apple bobbing.
   • 2005, Robin Mercer, The Warm Wonderful World of Hospitality, page 137:

     Put apples in a kitchen sink, a bathtub or a large shallow bucket filled with water. Each player must grab an apple with his or her teeth, using no hands. The fun of bobbing is for the bobbers to get wet! So don't forget the towels.

2. (fishing) A buoyant device (frequently made of cork or hollow plastic) attached to a line so as to suspend the end of the line with the hook (and bait or lure) above the bottom.

   Synonyms: dobber, cork, float

3. A style of custom motorcycle with stripped-down bodywork and a shortened (or "bobbed") rear fender.
4. A person who rides a bobsleigh; a bobsleigher.
5. One who has a bob hairstyle.
   • 2004, Jim C. Tumblin, C. Milton Hinshilwood, Fountain City, page 54:

     Not to be outdone, another group of students formed the Bobber's Union and wore a much different hairstyle.

   • 2005, Rose Weitz, Rapunzel's Daughters:

     Newspaper articles from the time describe employers who refused to hire women with bobbed hair […] In Japan, a speaker at a national hairdressers' convention declared, “All bobbers are not dissolute women, but all dissolute women are bobbers.”

Derived terms

• deely bobber

 

Translations

buoyant fishing device — see float