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# sob

«sob» in Mova's school dictionary: **verb: To cry noisily, with short sharp breaths** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (sob, sobs, sobbed, sobbing); noun (a sob, sobs); abbreviation (SOB — rude, US)

### meaning for a pupil

1) verb: To cry noisily, with short sharp breaths. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#m1)

2) noun: The sound of loud crying. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#m2)

3) «sob story» (informal): a sad story told to make people feel sorry for you, maybe to get something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#m3)

4) SOB (rude, US slang): short for a swear insult; not for school. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, sobbing shows deep sadness, fear or relief (more than crying quietly). «Sob your heart out» means cry a lot. «Sob story» shows suspicion that someone is exaggerating. Phrases: «sob loudly», «sob your heart out», «between sobs», «sob story».

### examples

- The little boy sobbed when he lost his balloon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#x1)
- She sobbed her heart out when her hamster died. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#x2)
- «I can't find my mum,» he said between sobs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#x3)
- We heard sobs from the next room. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#x4)
- He told the teacher a sob story about why his homework was late. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#x5)
- The audience sobbed at the sad ending. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#x6)
- ‘O Kay, my little Kay!’ sobbed Gerda. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sob/#x7)

### note

Past «sobbed», «sobbing» (double b). Similar: cry, weep (formal), wail (loud), whimper (quiet). Capital «SOB» is a rude US abbreviation — avoid.

### In the corpora

- [The Gryphon thumps the sobbing Mock Turtle: «Same as if he had a bone in his throat.»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/19-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-1/12/)
- [When the sobs calm down, the Rat simply gets up and walks back the way they came.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/42-willows-ch5-part2-mole-end/6/)
- [Toad sobs «Let me go out and find them, out into the cold, dark night...](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home/22/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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