Bob

Probably from a medieval hypocorism of Rob.

• (UK) enPR: bŏb, IPA^(key): /bɒb/
• Rhymes: -ɒb
• (US) enPR: bäb, bôb, IPA^(key): /bɑb/, /bɔb/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Bob (plural Bobs)

1. A diminutive of the male given name Robert.
   • 2005 March 30, “Miramax founders leave Disney”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Miramax Films cofounders Bob and Harvey Weinstein will end their successful, but often tumultuous, 12-year relationship with The Walt Disney Company to launch their own media company.

   • 2009 April 25, “Meet Number 16 Bus Shelter”, in Austin Daily Herald‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 July 2025:

     For the last decade at least, the trend seems to be that more untraditional names are being chosen over the Bobs, the Toms, the Sues and the Marys.

2. (cryptography, physics) The person or system receiving a message or signal from a source conventionally known as Alice.

   Synonym: Party B

   Coordinate terms: Alice, Eve, Mallory, Peggy, Victor

   • 2003, Matt Bishop, Computer Security: Art and Science, Addison-Wesley Professional, →ISBN, page 247:

     The key that Alice and Bob are to share cannot be transmitted in the clear. Either it must be enciphered when sent, or Alice and Bob must derive it without an exhange of data from which the key can be derived.

• Bobby
• Dobbin
• Rob
• Robbie

Bob (plural Bobs)

1. A generic male person. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• Jack (generic male)
• Joe (generic male)

• Bob's your uncle

• Alice

• Alice and Bob on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• obb

• BOB, bob

Borrowed from English Bob.

First used to mean "dedicated driver" in 1995 campaigns by Belgisch Instituut voor de Verkeersveiligheid ("Belgian Road Safety Institute") and since 2001 also in the Netherlands. Although it was explicitly intended to be a placeholder name, it is often spelled as "BOB" or "bob" as a result of a common folk etymology interpreting it as an abbreviation for bewust onbeschonken bestuurder "deliberately unintoxicated driver".

• IPA^(key): /bɔp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Bob
• Rhymes: -ɔp

Bob m

1. a male given name, Bob
2. designated driver

• IPA^(key): /bɔb/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔb

Bob m

1. a male given name from English

• IPA^(key): /bɔp/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔp

Borrowed from English Bob.

Bob m (proper noun, strong, genitive Bobs or (with an article) Bob)

1. a male given name from English

Borrowed from English bob.

Bob m (strong, genitive Bobs, plural Bobs)

1. (sports) bobsleigh, bob (sled used in the sport of bobsleigh)
2. (fashion) bob haircut, bob

   Synonym: Bubikopf

• “Bob”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[3] (in German)

• IPA^(key): /ˈbob/
• Rhymes: -ob

Bob m

1. a male given name from English

• Rhymes: -ob, -oβ

Bob m

1. (cryptography) Bob (person or system receiving a message)
2. a male given name from English

• IPA^(key): /ˈbob/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ob

From bob.

Bob m (genitive/dative lui Bob)

1. a surname

Borrowed from English Bob.

Bob m (genitive/dative lui Bob)

1. a male given name from English

• IPA^(key): /ˈbob/ [ˈboβ̞]
• Rhymes: -ob
• Syllabification: Bob

Bob m

1. a male given name from English

• IPA^(key): /bop/
• Rhymes: -op

Bob

1. a male given name from English

Bob

1. the Báb