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mob

  (mŏb) pronunciation
n.
  1. A large disorderly crowd or throng. See synonyms at crowd1.
  2. The mass of common people; the populace.
  3. Informal.
    1. An organized gang of criminals; a crime syndicate.
    2. often Mob Organized crime. Often used with the: a murder suspect with links to the Mob.
  4. An indiscriminate or loosely associated group of persons or things: a mob of boats in the harbor.
  5. Australian. A flock or herd of animals.
tr.v., mobbed, mob·bing, mobs.
  1. To crowd around and jostle or annoy, especially in anger or excessive enthusiasm: Eager fans mobbed the popular singer.
  2. To crowd into: Visitors mobbed the fairgrounds.
  3. To attack in large numbers; overwhelm: The quarterback was mobbed by the defensive line.

[Short for mobile, from Latin mōbile (vulgus), fickle (crowd), neuter of mōbilis. See mobile.]

mobbish mob'bish adj.
mobbishly mob'bish·ly adv.
 
 

noun

  1. An enormous number of persons gathered together: crowd, crush, drove, flock, horde, mass, multitude, press, ruck1, swarm, throng. See big/small/amount, group.
  2. The common people: common (used in plural), commonality, commonalty, commoner (used in plural), crowd, hoi polloi, mass (used in plural), pleb (used in plural), plebeian (used in plural), populace, public, ruck1, third estate. See over/under.
  3. An organized group of criminals, hoodlums, or wrongdoers: band2, gang, pack, ring1. See group.
  4. A very large number of things grouped together: army, cloud, crowd, drove, flock, horde, host, legion, mass, multitude, ruck1, score (used in plural), swarm, throng. See big/small/amount, group.

verb

  1. To congregate, as around a person: crowd, flock, press, throng. See collect/distribute, tighten/loosen.
  2. To fill to excess by compressing or squeezing tightly: cram, crowd, jam, load, pack, stuff. Informal jam-pack. See full/empty/capacity, tighten/loosen.

 
Antonyms: mob

v

Definition: come upon by pushing; surround
Antonyms: avoid, ignore, leave alone, shun


 

Australian vernacular for a group of sheep which stay together for an extended period. Also a name for a group of kangaroos.


 
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - A disorderly crowd of people; An association of criminals.

pronunciation It is proof of a bad cause when it is applauded by the mob. — Seneca

 

Quotes:

"The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny." - Edmund Burke

"Are we aware of our obligations to a mob? It is the mob that labor in your fields and serve in your houses -- that man your navy, and recruit your army -- that have enabled you to defy the world, and can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair. You may call the people a mob; but do not forget that a mob too often speaks the sentiments of the people." - Lord Byron

"The mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast. Its fit hour of activity is night. Its actions are insane like its whole constitution. It persecutes a principle; it would whip a right; it would tar and feather justice, by inflicting fire and outrage upon the houses and persons of those who have these. It resembles the prank of boys, who run with fire-engines to put out the ruddy aurora streaming to the stars." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The nose of a mob is its imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led." - Edgar Allan Poe

"The mob has many heads but no brains." - English Proverb

 
Wikipedia: Mobbing

Mobbing is a new term referring to a group behavioural phenomenon in workplaces and a type of animal behaviour. In a different sense, it is a criminal offence in Scotland.

Mobbing

In the book MOBBING: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace, the authors claim that mobbing is typically found in work environments that have poorly organized production and/or working methods and incapable or inattentive management and that mobbing victims are usually "exceptional individuals who demonstrated intelligence, competence, creativity, integrity, accomplishment and dedication".[1]:

Though the English word mob denotes a crowd, often in a destructive or hostile mood, the German and several other European languages have adopted mobbing as a loanword to describe all forms of bullying including that by single persons. The resultant German verb mobben can also be used for physical attacks, calumny against schoolteachers on the internet and intimidation by superiors, with an emphasis on the victims' continuous fear rather than the perpetrators' will to exclude them. The word may thus be a false friend in translation back into English, where mobbing in its primary sense denotes a disorderly gathering by a crowd and in workplace psychology narrowly refers to "ganging up" by others to harass and intimidate an individual.

Antipredatory behavior

Main article: Mobbing behavior

A longer-established technical use of mobbing is in the study of animal behaviour, especially in ornithology, where it refers to the antipredatory mobbing behavior harassing something that represents a threat to them.

From the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, RSPB, website [2]:

Mobbing is a noisy, obvious form of behaviour that birds engage in to defend themselves or their offspring from predators. When a predator is discovered, the birds start to emit alarm calls and fly at the predator, diverting its attention and harassing it. Sometimes they make physical contact. Mobbing usually starts with just one or two birds, but may attract a large number of birds, often of many species. For example, a chorus of different alarm calls coming from the same tree is often a good sign of a roosting owl or a cat.
Mobbing behaviour has been recorded in a wide range of species, but it is particularly well developed in gulls and terns, while crows are amongst the most frequent mobbers. In addition to flying at the predator and emitting alarm calls, some birds, such as fieldfares and gulls, add to the effectiveness by defaecating or even vomiting on the predator with amazing accuracy...

From the book "Mobbing, Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace, 2005, page 21"[3]:

"In the sixties, the eminent Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz used the English term mobbing to describe the behaviour that animals use to scare away a stronger, preying enemy. A number of weaker individuals crowd together and display attacking behavior, such as geese scaring away a fox."

Mobbing in Scots law

Mobbing is also a serious criminal offence in Scotland, relating to public order.

References

  1. ^ Davenport, Noa, Distler Schwartz, Ruth, Pursell Elliott, Gail, Mobbing, Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace, 3rd Edition 2005, Civil Society Publishing. Ames, IA,
  2. ^ Mobbing Royal Society for Protection of Birds, UK, website
  3. ^ Davenport, Noa, Distler Schwartz, Ruth, Pursell Elliott, Gail, Mobbing, Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace, 3rd Edition 2005, Civil Society Publishing. Ames, IA, Page 21

See also

External links


 
Translations: Translations for: Mob

Dansk (Danish)
n. - flok, hob, pøbel
v. tr. - omringe, stimle sammen, mobbe

Nederlands (Dutch)
menigte, gepeupel, bende, kliek, maffia, samenscholen, in bende aanvallen, bestormen

Français (French)
n. - foule, gang, la Mafia, clique, populace (péj), peuple
v. tr. - assaillir, se presser en foule autour, assiéger

Deutsch (German)
n. - Masse, Bande, Mob, Pöbel
v. - belagern, (mit einer Bande) angreifen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - όχλος, σπείρα, συμμορία, (ΗΠΑ, καθομ.) η Μαφία
v. - πολιορκώ, (περι)κυκλώνω

Italiano (Italian)
folla, gentaglia, banda, assalire

Português (Portuguese)
n. - multidão (f), ralé (f)
v. - cercar (em tumulto)

Русский (Russian)
толпа, чернь, шайка, стадо, толпиться, нападать толпой

Español (Spanish)
n. - multitud, muchedumbre, tropel, populacho, gentuza, turba, clase baja, La Mafia
v. tr. - acosar, atropellar, asaltar, rodear, atestar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - pöbel, krets, trupp, gangsterliga
v. - omringa, ofreda, invadera, skocka sig

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
暴民, 暴徒, 民众, 大举包围, 围攻, 乱挤

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 暴民, 暴徒, 民眾
v. tr. - 大舉包圍, 圍攻, 亂擠

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 성난 군중, 떼거리, 하층민
v. tr. - 떼를 지어 공격하다, ~이 쇄도하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 暴徒, やじ馬連, 大衆, 大衆向けの, 大いに, 動物の群れ
v. - 群れをなして襲う, …にどっと押しかける, 群がる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) جمهور, جماهير (فعل) يتجمهر, يحتشد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אספסוף, המון, מאפיה (פשע מאורגן), כנופית פושעים‬
v. tr. - ‮התנפל על, הקיפו מכל עבר, נהרו לתוך (בניין)‬


 
 
 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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