gob

Meanings

Noun

• A lump of soft or sticky material.
• The mouth.
• Saliva or phlegm.
• A sailor.
• Waste material in old mine workings, goaf.
• A whoopee pie.

Verb

• To gather into a lump.
• To spit, especially to spit phlegm.
• To pack away waste material in order to support the walls of the mine.

Origin

• From Middle English gobben, gabben, of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant of Middle English globben, related to Middle English gulpen; or alternatively related to French gober, from Irish and/or Scottish Gaelic gob ("beak, bill"), from Proto-Celtic *gobbos. See also gobbet.