Word.ws English Dictionary

have a cob on

have a cob on verb: to be in a bad mood; be grumpy.

Verb

have a cob on (third-person singular simple present has a cob on, present participle having a cob on, simple past and past participle had a cob on)

  1. (Northern England, Liverpool) To be in a bad mood; be grumpy.

Forms of have a cob on

third-person singular presenthas a cob on
present participlehaving a cob on
past participlehad a cob on
pasthad a cob on
alternative formhave got a cob on
alternative formget a cob on

Origin of have a cob on

Unknown. Perhaps from cob (“male swan”), noted for its ill-temper. Compare have a corncob up one's arse (“to be ill-tempered”).

Questions about have a cob on

What does have a cob on mean?
Have a cob on means to be in a bad mood; be grumpy.
What part of speech is have a cob on?
Have a cob on is a verb.
What is the past tense of have a cob on?
The past tense of have a cob on is had a cob on.

Words near have a cob on in the dictionary

  1. have a bone to pick
  2. have a brick in one's hat
  3. have a bun in the oven
  4. have a care
  5. have a clue
  6. have a cob on
  7. have a couple
  8. have a cow
  9. have a crack at
  10. have a crow to pull
  11. have a dog and bark oneself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have a cob on (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “have a cob on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/have_a_cob_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.