Basic Details
Word: Mob
Part of Speech: Noun, verb
Meaning: A large, noisy crowd that may be hard to control. As a verb, to mob someone is to crowd around them in excitement or anger.
Synonyms: crowd, throng, horde, rabble
How to Spell Mob
Syllables: mob
Tricky part: Mob itself has one b, but the b doubles when you add ed or ing: mobbed, mobbing. Short words with one vowel and one final consonant follow this rule.
Watch out for: mobb, mobing, mobeing
Memory tip: Short vowel, one last consonant: double it before ed or ing. Mob becomes mobbed just as rob becomes robbed.
Usage Examples
Example 1: A mob of fans waited outside the stadium for a glimpse of the players.
Example 2: The new phone shop was mobbed on the first day of the sale.
Example 3: Police officers moved in quickly before the mob could damage the shops.
Fun Fact
Mob is a shortened form of the Latin phrase mobile vulgus, the fickle crowd. It became popular as slang in the late 1600s.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. mob 2. curfue 3. seige 4. barracade
a) a rule that people must stay indoors after a certain time
b) a barrier put up quickly to block a road
c) a large crowd of people that is hard to control
d) the surrounding of a town by an army to force it to give in
Show answer
c) a large crowd of people that is hard to control. Mob is spelt right; the others should read barricade, curfew and siege.
Word Connection
Choose the word closest in meaning to mob as used in the sentence:
An angry mob gathered outside the factory gates after the workers lost their wages.
a) shelter
b) ruler
c) individual
d) crowd
Show answer
d) crowd. A mob is a crowd; individual means just one person, the opposite idea.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Excited fans kept mobing the famous cricketer from the moment he stepped out of the hotel lobby into the street.
a) excited
b) lobby
c) cricketer
d) mobing
Show answer
d) mobing. Mob doubles its b before ing, so the word should be mobbing.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which word best describes how a mob behaves?
a) quiet and orderly
b) slow and sleepy
c) noisy and disorderly
d) neat and organised
Show answer
c) noisy and disorderly
2. When fans mob a film star, they ____.
a) crowd around the star
b) write letters to the star
c) pay the star a fee
d) ignore the star completely
Show answer
a) crowd around the star
