cobs

Noun

cob (countable and uncountable, plural cobs)

1. A corncob.
   • The grains, each of which is about the bulk of the largest marrowfat pea, are placed all round a stalk, which goes up the middle, and this little stalk, to which the seeds adhere, is called the Corn Cob.1818, William Cobbett, A Year’s Residence in the United States of America, part I, Clayton and Kingsland, page 18
2. The seed-bearing head of a plant.
   • Examining the cob of the plants now in seed, I found them very full of fine seed.1807, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Essex, page 14
3. A male swan.
   • In all common streams, and private waters, when cygnets are taken up, the owner of the cob must chuse the first cygnet, and the pen the next, and so in order….1664, John Witherings, “The Orders, Laws, and Ancient Customs of Swans”, in The Harleian Miscellany, volume VII, published 1810, page 292
4. (East-Anglia) A gull, especially the black-backed gull (Larus marinus); also spelled cobb.
   • Here is also the pica marina or seapye many sorts of Lari, seamewes & cobs.1668, Thomas Browne, "Notes on Certain Birds Found in Norfolk", in Notes and Letters on the Natural History of Norfolk, Jarrold & Sons (1902), pages 8–9
5. A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large size, as of coal, stone, or excrement.
6. (Midlands) A round, often crusty roll or loaf of bread.
   • The cob was a cracknel or simnel made of fine flour.1877, Mackenzie E. C. Walcott, The Early Statutes of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Chichester, J. B. Nichols and Sons, page 38

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