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# cob

«cob» in Mova's school dictionary: **the long middle part of an ear of corn (maize) that the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a cob, cobs; cob — building material, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A cob, or corncob, is the long middle part of an ear of corn (maize) that the kernels grow on: corn on the cob. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#m1)

2) A cob is a male swan (a female is a pen, a baby is a cygnet). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#m2)

3) (UK) A cob is a small round loaf of bread, or in some areas a bread roll. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#m3)

4) A cob is a strong, short-legged horse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#m4)

5) Cob is a mix of clay, straw and water used to build walls of old houses. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons, «cob» is the word for a male swan. In food and farming lessons, corn on the cob is sweetcorn cooked whole. In parts of England (the Midlands, the North) «a cob» is a bread roll — the word is part of a famous regional argument (bap, barm, batch, cob, roll, bun). In history and design, cob cottages in Devon have thick earth walls. Phrases: «corn on the cob», «cob loaf», «cob and pen».

### examples

- We ate buttery corn on the cob at the barbecue. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#x1)
- The cob swan hissed to protect the cygnets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#x2)
- (UK, Midlands) Can I have a cheese cob, please? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#x3)
- The farmer rode a sturdy cob. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#x4)
- Old Devon cottages are made of cob. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#x5)
- The baker sold a big round cob loaf. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#x6)
- De pig dat runs off wid de year er corn gits little mo' dan de cob. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/#x7)

### note

Plural «cobs». The meaning depends on where you are and what you are talking about: swans, corn, bread, horses or walls. Swans: cob = male, pen = female, cygnet = young.

### In the corpora

- [Count the rows on a cob and you nearly always get an even number.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «cob» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cob/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.