different between fob vs forb

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: f?b, IPA^(key): /f?b/
• Rhymes: -?b

Etymology 1

From German Low German Fobke (“pocket”) or German (East Prussian dialect) Fuppe (“pocket”).

Noun

fob (plural fobs)

1. A little pocket near the waistline of a pair of trousers or in a waistcoat or vest to hold a pocketwatch; a watch pocket.

   1711 Jonathan Swift, Windsor Prophecy:

   • With a saint at his chin and a seal at his fob.

2. A short chain or ribbon to connect such a pocket to the watch.
3. A small ornament attached to such a chain. (See Usage Notes below)
4. A hand-held remote control device used to lock/unlock motor cars etc.

Derived terms

• fob watch

Usage notes

• The Jonathan Swift quote indicates that the word "fob" at that time period did not specifically apply to an object attached to the chain or watch.
• A "fob" attached directly to the watch serves as an ornament and or as a grip for more easily pulling the watch from the watch pocket.
• A fob attached to a drooping chain would be mainly an ornament.

Translations

Etymology 2

German foppen (“to mock”)

Alternative forms

• fub

Verb

fob (third-person singular simple present fobs, present participle fobbing, simple past and past participle fobbed)

1. (transitive, archaic) To cheat, to deceive, to trick, to take in, to impose upon someone.

   1604 William Shakespeare, Othello, iv, 2:

   • I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fobbed in it.

2. (transitive, archaic) To beat; to maul.

Derived terms

• to fob off

Translations

References

• 1897 Universal Dictionary of the English Language, Robert Hunter and Charles Morris, eds., v 2 p 2146.

Anagrams

• BOF, F. B. O., F.B.O., F/B/O, FBO

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ????? (phorb?, “food”), from ????? (phérb?, “to feed”).

Noun

forb (plural forbs)

1. (chiefly ecology) Any non-woody flowering plant that is not a graminoid (a grass, sedge, or rush).
   • 2002, Dale F. Lott, American Bison: A Natural History, page 122,

     So younger is better and the part nearest the roots is better, but what makes life possible for the pronghorn is a supply of forbs—small broadleaf plants growing among the grasses.

   • 2004, A. Kirilov, P. Todorova Development of forage areas and forage resources in Bulgaria during the period of transition, A. Lüscher, et al. (editors), Land Use Systems in Grassland Dominated Regions: Proceedings of the 20th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation, Grassland Science in Europe, Volume 9, page 859,

     Buchgraber (1995) recommends 50-70% of grasses, 10-30% of legumes and also 10-30% of forbs on meadows, while Kessler (1994) recommends the same proportion of grasses, 10-20% of legumes and 20-40% of forbs on natural meadows.

Anagrams

• frob