# cob

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɑb/ · frequency rank #27,404

## Definitions
1. A corncob.
2. The seed-bearing head of a plant.
3. Clipping of cobnut.
4. A male swan.
5. A gull, especially the black-backed gull (Larus marinus); also spelled cobb.
6. A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large size, as of coal, stone, or excrement.
7. A round, often crusty roll or loaf of bread.
8. A building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth, similar to adobe; also called cobb, rammed earth or pisé.
9. A horse having a stout body and short legs.
10. Any of the gold and silver coins that were minted in the Spanish Empire and valued in reales or escudos, such as the piece of eight—especially those which were crudely struck and irregularly shaped.
11. One who is eminent, great, large, or rich.
12. A spider (cf. cobweb).
13. A small fish, the miller's thumb.
14. A large fish, especially the kabeljou (variant spelling of kob).
15. The head of a herring.
16. A tower or small castle on top of a hill.
17. A thresher.
18. A cylinder with pins in it, encoding music to be played back mechanically by a barrel organ.
19. A person of mixed black and white ancestry, especially a griffe; a mulatto.

## Etymology
Of uncertain origin. The word has many disparate senses, which are likely of diverse origin. The specifics of these origins have long been debated, as has the question of which senses arise from which origins. At least the swan sense originated in Middle English cobbe (“male swan; gang leader; bully”). Some other senses likely originated as a variant of cop (“head, top, peak, summit”). In other senses, the word may be related to cub, itself of obscure origin but possibly from Old Norse kobbi (“seal”). However, many alternative etymologies have been proposed to account for some or all senses of cob; various sources have related it, for example, to English cot (“cottage”), Welsh cob (“top, tuft”), or German Kübel (“large container”). All these etymologies are disputed, and the exact origins of cob cannot be known with any certainty.

## Easily confused with
- **CT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-ct)
- **CR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cr)
- **cs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cs)
- **cp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cp)
- **CV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cv)
- **CU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cu)
- **CW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cw)
- **CX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cx)
- **cz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cz)
- **CQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cq)
- **cut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cut)
- **cup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cup)
- **cry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cry)
- **cop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cop)
- **con** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-con)
- **cow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cow)
- **cos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cos)
- **cum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cum)
- **col** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-col)
- **cox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cob-vs-cox)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cob