From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmobmob1 /mɒb $ mɑːb/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 CROWDa large noisy crowd, especially one that is angry and violentmob of a mob of a few hundred demonstrators They were immediately surrounded by the mob. The leadership had been criticized for giving in to mob rule (=when a mob controls the situation rather than the government or the law).► see thesaurus at group2 informalGROUP OF PEOPLE a group of people of the same type SYN gangmob of The usual mob of teenagers were standing on the corner.the heavy mob British English (=group of strong violent men) What happens if they send the heavy mob round to find him?3 → the Mob4 → the mob5 → mob of sheep/cattle
Examples from the Corpus
mob• A mob of fans caused millions of pounds worth of damage in the area surrounding the stadium.• A mob of reporters surrounded the quarterback.• In two recent incidents, police fired at mobs of unruly protesters.• This made the local mob angry.• My first reaction was to scan the angry opposition mob for shotguns, pistols, slingshots, and M-80s.• On the northwest corner of South and Catherine streets, a small mob had formed again.• No one in the mob was arrested.• It was Shawn Ogg, with the rest of the mob behind him.• The mob set fire to cars and buildings.mob rule• Unless the growing spirit of the movement could be harnessed coherently, mob rule would replace Unionist minority rule.• Now Bork proposes that mob rule be substituted for the authority of the nine justices.the heavy mob• The regulars and the heavy mob from Fleet Street arrived and we just managed to catch the last train to Cambridge.• He would come back and find the heavy mob were selling Tombstone as holiday homes.mobmob2 verb (mobbed, mobbing) [transitive] 1 AROUND/ROUNDif people mob a famous person, they rush to get close to them and form a crowd around them Fans ran onto the pitch and mobbed the batsman.2 if a group of birds or animals mob another bird or animal, they all attack it→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
mob• When we went to Disney World last spring, it was mobbed.• The star was mobbed at the airport by photographers and reporters.• During a recent visit he was mobbed by autograph hunters.• The poor bewildered creature was being mobbed by rooks.• Stores all over Paris were mobbed Friday, with huge crowds massing outside stores even before opening time.• Vancouverites have been mobbing his new public library.• Chimpanzees have been observed to indulge in mobbing in certain unusual cases.• A., Aragon, much like a movie star, was mobbed wherever he went.• The band, who have shot to No. 11 with Drive, say they are sick of being mobbed wherever they go.• And the beach is mobbed with others in the same predicament.Origin mob1 (1600-1700) Latin mobile vulgus “excitable crowd”, from mobilis; → MOBILE1 