sob

CEFRB2

/sɒb/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To cry with short, noisy breaths.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    Initialism of shortness of breath.

Examples

  • The movie is a stereotyped sob story.

  • The poor little girl did nothing but sob all day.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

  1. Initialism of souls on board.

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A cry with a short, sudden expulsion of breath.

  2. The sound of sob.

More examples

In context

  • She was sobbing because she was feeling very miserable.

  • "He doesn't love me!" she sobbed.

  • She sigh'd, she sobb'd, and, furious with despair, / She rent her garments, and she tore her hair.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

When she received the heartbreaking letter, she began to blank loudly in her room.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English sobben, perhaps from Middle Low German sabben (“to drool, slobber, salivate”). Cognate with West Frisian sabje, sobje (“to suck”), Dutch zabben, sabbelen (“to suck”), zabberen (“to drool”), German Low German sabbeln, severn (“to drool”), German sabbern (“to drool, slobber”), Norwegian sabbe (“to spill, drop, make a mess”). Compare also Old English sēofian (“to lament”), German saufen (“to drink, swig”).