bobby

See also: Bobby

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɒbi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑbi/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒbi

Etymology 1

From the given name of Sir Robert Peel, who established London’s police force.

Noun

bobby (plural bobbies)

1. (British, Ireland, Australia, slang) A police officer.
   • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:

     If I am wrong, and if Lessingham’s wrong, how do you explain his extraordinary insistence on taking it inside the cab with him, which the bobby describes?

2. (British, Ireland, Australia, slang) A railway signaller.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:police officer

Translations

police officer

• French: bobby (fr) m
• German: Bobby (de) m
• Hungarian: zsaru (hu)
• Italian: poliziotto (it), piedipiatti m, questurino m, sbirro (it) m, agente (it) m, guardia (it) f
• Romanian: polițai (ro) m, curcan (ro) m
• Spanish: yuta (es)
• Turkish: aynasız (tr)

railway signaller

• Italian: segnalatore ferroviario m

See also

• peeler

Etymology 2

Noun

bobby (plural bobbies)

1. (Scotland, slang) A penis.
2. (MLE) Cocaine.
   • 2017, “Next Up?”, Digga D (lyrics), performed by 1011 (Digga D x Sav'O x T.Y):

     Bro I’m booky, I’ll take your food if my belly starts rumblin
     They rap about bootings, they ain’t blammed nobody
     Hold that properly when I bang that dotty
     I put sniff in a rex, and I slang that bobby
     

3. A calf that is slaughtered in its first month, usually because it has no mother or because it is undersized or otherwise defective.
   • 1970, Great Britain. Milk Marketing Board. Breeding and Production Organization, Report of the Breeding and Production Organization:

     The already low proportion of Friesian and Hereford Friesian cross calves sold as bobbies declined to almost insignificant proportions and there was a very steep drop in the proportion of bobby calves in the other breeds

   • 2002, John Moran, Calf Rearing: A Practical Guide, →ISBN, page 44:

     The following is the Victorian code of practice as it refers to the welfare of bobby calves.

   • 2004, Primary Industries Standing Committee, Cattle, →ISBN, page 21:

     All bobby calves must be fed as close as possible to, and at least within 6 hours of, the time of transportation.

4. A banana that is extra small in size.
   • 2017 June 14, Sarah Catherall, “I tried to live plastic free for a week and it's impossible”, in The Press:

     My kids like bobby bananas, but they're in plastic.

Derived terms

terms derived from either etymologies, or from noun of them. These may need sorting

• bobby bean
• bobby-dazzler
• bobby pin
• bobby socks
• bobby soxer
• bobby-soxer
• hobby bobby