cob
    n 1: nut of any of several trees of the genus Corylus [syn:
         hazelnut, filbert, cobnut, cob]
    2: stocky short-legged harness horse
    3: white gull having a black back and wings [syn: black-backed
       gull, great black-backed gull, cob, Larus marinus]
    4: adult male swan

Cob \Cob\, n. [Cf. AS. cop, copp, head, top, D. kop, G. kopf,
   kuppe, LL. cuppa cup (cf. E. brainpan), and also W. cob tuft,
   spider, cop, copa, top, summit, cobio to thump. Cf. Cop
   top, Cup, n.]
   1. The top or head of anything. [Obs.] --W. Gifford.
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   2. A leader or chief; a conspicuous person, esp. a rich
      covetous person. [Obs.]
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            All cobbing country chuffs, which make their bellies
            and their bags their god, are called rich cobs.
                                                  --Nash.
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   3. The axis on which the kernels of maize or indian corn
      grow. [U. S.]
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   4. (Zool.) A spider; perhaps from its shape; it being round
      like a head.
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   5. (Zool.) A young herring. --B. Jonson.
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   6. (Zool.) A fish; -- also called miller's thumb.
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   7. A short-legged and stout horse, esp. one used for the
      saddle. [Eng.]
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   8. (Zool.) A sea mew or gull; esp., the black-backed gull
      (Larus marinus). [Written also cobb.]
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   9. A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large
      size, as of coal, or stone.
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   10. A cobnut; as, Kentish cobs. See Cobnut. [Eng.]
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   11. Clay mixed with straw. [Prov. Eng.]
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             The poor cottager contenteth himself with cob for
             his walls, and thatch for his covering. --R. Carew.
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   12. A punishment consisting of blows inflictod on tho
       buttocas with a strap or a flat piece of wood. --Wright.
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   13. A Spanish coin formerly current in Ireland, worth abiut
       4s. 6d. [Obs.] --Wright.
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   Cob coal, coal in rounded lumps from the size of an egg to
      that of a football; -- called also cobbles. --Grose.

   Cob loaf, a crusty, uneven loaf, rounded at top. --Wright.

   Cob money, a kind of rudely coined gold and silver money of
      Spanish South America in the eighteenth century. The coins
      were of the weight of the piece of eight, or one of its
      aliquot parts.
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Cob \Cob\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cobbed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Cobbing.]
   1. To strike [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
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   2. (Mining) To break into small pieces, as ore, so as to sort
      out its better portions. --Raymond.
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   3. (Naut.) To punish by striking on the buttocks with a
      strap, a flat piece of wood, or the like.
      [1913 Webster] Cobaea