frob
English
Etymology
It was adopted by the community of computer programmers which grew out of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club in the 1950s, and allegedly among the oldest existing words in hacker jargon.
Noun
frob (plural frobs)
- (jargon, MIT) Any small device or object (usually hand-sized) which can be manipulated.
- Hand me that frob there, will you?
Verb
frob (third-person singular simple present frobs, present participle frobbing, simple past and past participle frobbed)
- (jargon, MIT) To manipulate objects considered to be frobs.
- Hey, frob the switch.
Related terms
- frobnicate
- frobnitz
References
- frob, in The New Hacker's Dictionary, 1996, by Eric S. Raymond.
- frob at the Jargon File
- frobnicate (vt.) at the Jargon File