bobble

English

Etymology

• (noun): from bob +‎ -le (diminutive suffix).^[1][2][3]
• (verb): from bob +‎ -le (frequentative suffix).^{[1][2][4][5][3]}

Compare bauble.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɒbəl/
• Rhymes: -ɒbəl
• Homophone: bauble (cot–caught merger)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

bobble (plural bobbles)

1. A furry ball attached on top of a hat.
2. (British) Elasticated band used for securing hair (for instance in a ponytail), a hair tie
3. (informal) A pill (a ball formed on the surface of the fabric, as on laundered clothes).
4. (knitting) A localized set of stitches forming a raised bump.
   • 2008, Claire Compton, Sue Whiting, The Knitting and Crochet Bible, page 45:

     From the top the sample shows four stitch popcorns, five stitch bobbles, two rows of bells and a central leaf with leaves sloping to the left and right each side.

5. A wobbling motion.
   • 2013, Elizabeth Chatterjee, Delhi: Mostly Harmless: One woman’s vision of the city:

     My favourite dubious history of the head bobble was put forward by an Indian management consultant […]

Derived terms

• bobble hat
• bobblehead
• bobbly
• debobble
• head bobble

 

Translations

furry ball attached on top of a hat

Bulgarian: помпон (bg) m (pompon) Chinese: Mandarin: 漏接 (lòujiē) Dutch: pompon (nl) c Finnish: tupsu (fi) French: pompon (fr) m German: Bommel (de) f or m, Pompon (de) f Hungarian: bojt (hu) Icelandic: dúskur m Irish: bobailín m Japanese: ポンポン (ja) (ponpon) Norwegian: Bokmål: dusk (no) m Russian: помпо́н (ru) m (pompón)

elasticated band for securing hair

Bulgarian: ластик m (lastik) Finnish: hiuslenkki (fi), donitsi (fi) French: élastique à cheveux m Swedish: hårsnodd (sv) c Ukrainian: гумка для волосся f (humka dlja volossja)

Verb

bobble (third-person singular simple present bobbles, present participle bobbling, simple past and past participle bobbled)

1. (intransitive) To bob up and down.
2. (US) To make a mistake in.
3. (intransitive) To roll slowly.
   • November 17 2012, BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham

     A neat interchange between Mikel Arteta and Wilshere set up Podolski and his finish bobbled into the net via Gallas.

4. (US, sports, transitive) To mishandle a ball.
5. (knitting, rare) To use the bobble stitch.
   • 2008, Leisure Arts, I Can't Believe I'm Knitting Cables, page 9:

     You've been cabling, twisting, popcorning and bobbling. See, we told you that they weren't so hard.

Derived terms

• bobbler

Translations

to bob up and down

Finnish: pomppia (fi)

to make a mistake in

Finnish: pompata (fi)

to roll slowly

Finnish: vieriä (fi)

References

1. “bobble”, in Collins English Dictionary.
2. “bobble”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
3. “bobble” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.
4. “bobble”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
5. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “bobble”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.