This week’s theme
Words with many meanings

This week’s words
dobber
bruit
cameo
pillbox
plight

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Previous week’s theme
Rodents

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(DOB-uhr)

MEANING:

noun:
1. An informer.
2. In cricket, a bowler, especially a slow bowler.
3. A float for a fishing line.
4. A large marble.

ETYMOLOGY:

For 1, 2: From dob (to inform, to put down, to throw).
For 3: From Dutch dobber (float, cork).
For 4: From dob, a variant of dab (lump).
Earliest documented use: 1836.

USAGE:

“Members of the public regularly reported breaches of regulations to authorities. They identified those who made ‘disloyal’ utterances or had Germanic-sounding surnames, and denounced those who displayed unpatriotic behaviour. To be a dobber was to assert one’s patriotism.”
Philip Deery; How Our Government Clamped Down on Civil Liberties During the First World War; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); May 23, 2020.

“I am wiser now and sincerely hope one day to see the emergence of a dobber to rival the great Derek Shackleton, of Hampshire, who took 100 wickets in a season 20 times despite, or possibly because of, a pre-match warm-up that consisted of smoking a cigarette while combing his hair.”
Harry Pearson; How We Miss Alderman and the Trusty Trundlers; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); May 14, 2013.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: