mob

UK: /ˈmɒb/ US: /mɑb/ ,(mob)

Inflections of 'mob' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

mobs

v 3rd person singular

mobbing

v pres p

mobbed

v past

mobbed

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

mob /mɑb/   n., adj., v., mobbed, mob•bing. 
n. [countable]

1. a disorderly crowd of people:
   angry mobs of protesters.
2. the common people:
   [singular* the + ~] rule by the mob.
3. Sociology [Informal.] a criminal gang involved in organized crime:
   the most powerful mob in the area.

adj. [before a noun]

4. of or by the common people:
   degenerated into mob rule.

v. [~ + object]

5. to crowd around noisily, as from curiosity or hostility:
   Fans mobbed the actor.
6. to attack in a riotous mob:
   The crowd mobbed the consulate.
7. to fill with people;
   crowd:
   The theater was mobbed with people trying to get in.

-mob-, root. 

1. -mob- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "move.'' It is related to -mot- and -mov-. This meaning is found in such words as: automobile, demobilize, immobile, immobilize, mobile, mobility, mobilize, snowmobile.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

mob  (mob), n., adj., v., mobbed, mob•bing. 
n. 

1. a disorderly or riotous crowd of people.
2. a crowd bent on or engaged in lawless violence.
3. any group or collection of persons or things.
4. the common people;
   the masses;
   populace or multitude.
5. Sociology a criminal gang, esp. one involved in drug trafficking, extortion, etc.
6. Sociology the Mob, Mafia (def. 1).
7. Sociology a group of persons stimulating one another to excitement and losing ordinary rational control over their activity.
8. Animal Husbandry a flock, herd, or drove of animals:
   a mob of sheep.

adj. 

9. Sociology of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lawless, irrational, disorderly, or riotous crowd:
   mob rule; mob instincts.
10. directed at or reflecting the lowest intellectual level of the common people:
    mob appeal; the mob mentality.

v.t. 

11. to crowd around noisily, as from curiosity or hostility:
    Spectators mobbed the courtroom.
12. to attack in a riotous mob:
    The crowd mobbed the consulate.
13. Sport [Fox Hunting.] to chop (a fox).

• short for Latin mōbile vulgus the movable (i.e., changeable, inconstant) common people 1680–90

mob′ber, mob′bist, n. 
mob′bish, adj. 
mob′bish•ly, adv. 
mob′bish•ness, n. 
mob′bism, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mob / mɒb/ noun

1. a riotous or disorderly crowd of people; rabble
2. (as modifier): mob law, mob violence
3. a group or class of people, animals, or things
4. a flock (of sheep) or a herd (of cattle, esp when droving)
5. the masses
6. a gang of criminals

verb (mobs, mobbing, mobbed)(transitive)

1. to attack in a group resembling a mob
2. to surround, esp in order to acclaim
3. to crowd into (a building, plaza, etc)

Etymology: 17th Century: shortened from Latin mōbile vulgus the fickle populace; see mobile

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

MOB abbreviation

1. mobile phone