sob

See also: SOB

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɒb/
• (General American) enPR: säb, IPA^(key): /sɑb/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒb

Etymology 1

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”).

Noun

sob (plural sobs)

1. A cry with a short, sudden expulsion of breath.
2. (onomatopoeia) sound of sob
   • 1874, George Carter Stent, The Jade Chaplet in Twenty-four Beads, page 9:

     “My husband, alas! whom I now (sob, sob) mourn,
     A short time since (sob) to this grave (sob) was borne;
     And (sob) he lies buried in this (sob, sob) grave.”

Derived terms

• sobby
• sob sister
• sob story
• sob stuff

Translations

a cry with a short, sudden expulsion of breath

Bulgarian: ридание (bg) n (ridanie) Catalan: sanglot (ca) m Danish: hulk n, hulken c Dutch: snik (nl) c Esperanto: ĝemploro Faroese: higst n Finnish: nyyhkäys (fi), nyyhkytys (fi) French: sanglot (fr) m Friulian: sangloç m Galician: salouco m German: Schluchzen (de) n, Schluchzer (de) m Greek: αναφιλητό (el) n (anafilitó), λυγμός (el) m (lygmós) Hungarian: zokogás (hu) Icelandic: snökkt n, ekki (is) m, ekkasog n, andvarp (is) n Irish: cuach f Italian: singhiozzo (it) Japanese: すすり泣き (susurinaki) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ھەنیسک (henîsk), بەرانیسک (beranîsk) Laki: ڤِرەنِسک (virenisk) Southern Kurdish: وەرەنیسک (ku) (werenîsk) Latin: singultus m Latvian: elsas f pl, šņuksti m pl Persian: هق (fa), هقهق Polish: łkanie (pl) n, szlochanie (pl) n, szloch (pl) m Portuguese: soluço (pt) m Romanian: suspin (ro) n Romansch: singlut m, sanglut, singlot, sangluot, singluot Russian: всхли́пывание (ru) n (vsxlípyvanije), (loud) рыда́ние (ru) n (rydánije) Serbo-Croatian: jecanje (sh) n Cyrillic: је̏ца̄ј m Roman: jȅcāj (sh) m Sicilian: sugghiuzzu (scn) m, sugliuzzu (scn), sigghiuzzu (scn), sigliuzzu (scn) Slovene: ihta f Spanish: sollozo (es) m Swedish: snyft (sv) n, snyftning (sv) c Ukrainian: рида́ння (rydánnja), реві́ння (revínnja) Venetan: sangiuto (vec) m, sangiut, sangioto, sangiot

Verb

sob (third-person singular simple present sobs, present participle sobbing, simple past and past participle sobbed)

1. (intransitive) To weep with convulsive gasps.

   She was sobbing because she was feeling very miserable.

   • 1697, Virgil, “Pastoral 5”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

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

2. (transitive) To say (something) while sobbing.

   "He doesn't love me!" she sobbed.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:weep

Translations

weep with convulsive gasps

Bulgarian: ридая (bg) n (ridaja), хлипам (bg) (hlipam) Catalan: sanglotar (ca) Czech: vzlykat (cs) impf, štkát (cs) impf Danish: hulke Dutch: snotteren (nl) Esperanto: ploregi, ĝemplori Faroese: higsta Finnish: nyyhkyttää (fi) French: sangloter (fr) Friulian: sangloçâ Galician: saloucar, choricar German: schluchzen (de) Greek: κλαίω με λυγμούς (klaío me lygmoús) Hungarian: zokog (hu) Icelandic: snökta, stynja, andvarpa, gráta (is), stynja upp Italian: singhiozzare (it) Japanese: 啜り泣く (ja) Latvian: elsot Maori: koto, kotokoto, horuhoru, horu, hotu, hotuhotu Occitan: saumucar, samucar Persian: هقیدن Polish: łkać (pl), szlochać (pl) Portuguese: soluçar (pt) Quechua: hik'ipakuy Romanian: hohoti (ro), boci (ro) Romansch: sanglutter, singlouotar Russian: всхли́пывать (ru) impf (vsxlípyvatʹ), всхли́пнуть (ru) pf (vsxlípnutʹ), (loud) рыда́ть (ru) impf (rydátʹ) Serbo-Croatian: jecati (sh) Slovene: ihteti impf Spanish: sollozar (es) Swedish: snyfta (sv) Ukrainian: рида́ти impf (rydáty), реві́ти impf (revíty) Venetan: sangiutar, sangiotar Vietnamese: khóc thổn thức, thổn thức (vi), khóc hu hu

say (something) while sobbing

Bulgarian: говоря през сълзи (govorja prez sǎlzi) Danish: hulke Dutch: snikken (nl) Finnish: nyyhkyttää (fi) French: dire en sanglotant German: schluchzen (de) Icelandic: stynja upp, segja frá með ekka Latvian: šņukstēt Persian: هقیدن, هقگفتن

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) jecati (sh)

Etymology 2

See sop.

Verb

sob (third-person singular simple present sobs, present participle sobbing, simple past and past participle sobbed)

1. To soak.
   • 1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:

     the Tree, being sobbed and wet, ſwells the Wood

Anagrams

• OSB, bos, SBO, BSO, obs., BOs, B.O.s, obs, Bos., Obs, BOS, OBs

Czech

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

sob

Wikipedia ^cs

sob

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsop]

Noun

sob m anim (relational adjective sobí)

1. reindeer, caribou (deer of the genus Rangifer)

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	sob	sobi, sobové
genitive	soba	sobů
dative	sobovi, sobu	sobům
accusative	soba	soby
vocative	sobe	sobi, sobové
locative	sobovi, sobu	sobech
instrumental	sobem	soby

Declension of sob (hard masculine animate)

Derived terms

(adjectives):

• sobový

(nouns):

• sobice
• sobina
• sobovina

Further reading

• “sob”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “sob”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “sob”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sob]
• Hyphenation: sob

Adverb

sob

1. (nonstandard) down, downwards (direction to the center of the Earth)
   • 1993, Jorge Camacho, La Majstro kaj Martinelli‎, Iltis Saarbrücken:

     Ni saltu sob antaŭ ol venos fruemaj promenantoj.

     Let's jump down before the early promenaders come.

Synonyms

• malsupren (“down, downwards”)

Antonyms

• supren (“up, upwards”)
• (neologism, nonstandard) sor (“up, upwards”)

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese sob, so, su, from Latin sub, from Proto-Italic *supo, from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“under, below”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈso.bi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsob/ [ˈsoβ]

• Hyphenation: sob

Preposition

sob

1. under

   Antonym: sobre

Serbo-Croatian

Serbo-Croatian Wikipedia has an article on:

sob

Wikipedia ^sh

Etymology

Borrowed from Czech sob.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sôb/

Noun

sȍb m (Cyrillic spelling со̏б)

1. reindeer

   Synonym: irvas

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	sob	sobovi
genitive	soba	sobova
dative	sobu	sobovima
accusative	soba	sobove
vocative	sobe	sobovi
locative	sobu	sobovima
instrumental	sobom	sobovima

Declension of sob

Further reading

• “sob”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovak

Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:

sob

Wikipedia ^sk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɔp]

Noun

sob m animal (relational adjective sobí)

1. reindeer, caribou (deer of the genus Rangifer)

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	sob	soby
genitive	soba	sobov
dative	sobovi	sobom
accusative	soba	soby
locative	sobovi	soboch
instrumental	sobom	sobmi

Declension of sob (patterns chlap (singular) and dub (plural))

Further reading

• “sob”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Tzotzil

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔʔm̥/

Noun

sob

1. early morning

Adjective

sob

1. of early morning

References

• Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Volapük

Noun

sob (nominative plural sobs)

1. soap

Declension

Declension of sob

	singular	plural
nominative	sob	sobs
genitive	soba	sobas
dative	sobe	sobes
accusative	sobi	sobis
vocative 1	o sob!	o sobs!
predicative 2	sobu	sobus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only