boob n.2
1. (orig. US, also boobist) a fool, an idiot.
![]() | Philosophy of Johnny the Gent 37: ‘Once a boob, always a boob, an’ that's no dopetown dream’. | |
![]() | Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 271: That jerry to all trades, that blundering bonehead boob, the property man. | ‘Annye’s Ma’|
![]() | Bulldog Drummond 140: You fool [...] You poor, damned boob! | |
![]() | Argosy All-Story 11 Sept. 🌐 And the biggest boobist of all is the gent who says he ain’t, never was, and never will be [a sucker]. | ‘Score Another One for Barnum’ in|
![]() | West Broadway 233: I thought with [...] pride and superiority of the poor boobs that would fall for that ride to-morrow. | |
![]() | Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 8 Sept. 3/2: He’s so wide that if it were raining soup the poor boob would be running round with a fork. | |
![]() | Enter the Saint 34: I know you want more of me than my services in decoying boobs upstairs. | |
![]() | On Broadway 22 Jan. [synd. col.] Anybody who lets a middleman sell the goods he puts out at $3.85 for 10 and 15 dollars more is a boob. | |
![]() | Iceman Cometh Act I: pearl: We nailed a coupla all-night guys. margie: On Sixth Avenoo. Boobs from de sticks. | |
![]() | Alcoholics (1993) 5: He had made Doc look like a [...] boob. | |
![]() | Felony Tank (1962) 44: He was only some harmless boob. | |
![]() | Listening to America 177: Man came along, the arrogant boob, and invented the idea of his importance in God’s eye. | |
![]() | Boy Who Followed Ripley (1981) 163: Lots of detectives are boobs [...] Boobs! – I love American slang. | |
![]() | Clockers 501: Why are you trying to make a fucking boob out of me? | |
![]() | Stalker (2001) 307: Sure, let the whole world know I’m a total boob. | |
![]() | Atomic Lobster 100: That’s it [...] I’m done with you boobs. |
2. (US) an inmate of a psychiatric institution.
![]() | ‘A. Mutt’ [comic strip] Old Mutt is in the booby hatch. He got a great welcome from the boobs. |
3. (US tramp) an innocent, a potential victim of a thief.
![]() | Wash. Times (DC) 10 Oct. 15/2: I held thw rubber pea in the crook of my finger while the whiskered boobs tried to guess which walnut shell it was under. | |
![]() | Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 33: Boob. – An uninitiated person or a thieves’ victim. In general use by Americans as a slang term ; the underworld, however, places an entirely fresh meaning on it, and with a scornful context quite apart from the original meaning. |
4. an error, a blunder.
![]() | Capt. Bulldog Drummond 144: They’re marvellous most of the time, but this was rather a boob. | |
![]() | My Guy 12 May n.p.: If you see someone making a boob on the box [KH]. | |
![]() | Guardian Rev. 17 July 11: With so many dates flying around, a few boobs occur. |
In derivatives
stupid, foolish.
![]() | Nightmare Town (2001) 159: Saying, in my boobish way, that I had been afraid she might do something reckless. | ‘Assistant Murderer’ in|
![]() | Honest Rainmaker (1991) 119: The journalistic furor about Red Alexis [...] and the resulting gusher of boobish Tease [i.e. money]. | |
![]() | Gaily, Gaily 122: It was a boobish time, even my youth could note its nonsense. |
In compounds
(US) a psychiatric institution.
![]() | Pimp 151: They in the boob box right now babbling. |
a foolish action, an error, a blunder.
![]() | Trying Out Torchy 322: Was it a boob play? Am I lettin’ myself in bad all round? | |
![]() | Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist 282: I knew that to gun him would be a boob play. | |
![]() | Reminscences of a Stock Operator (2004) 222/2: It was a boob play and he paid a big price. His ability, natural aptitude and vast experience didn’t help him. | |
![]() | Gringo Privateer 90: You heard me pull off a boob play. |
(US) a nightclub or similar place of entertainment where gullible customers are defrauded of their cash.
![]() | Arrowsmith 291: I suppose this Rouncefield Clinic is probably nothing but a gilded boob-trap. | |
, | ![]() | DAS. |
1. (orig. US) television; thus boob tuber, one who watches television a lot.
![]() | Penelope 110: Ah find that ah sho’ nuff can find out a lot about you humans by watchin yo’ boob tube. | |
![]() | Women’s Room (1978) 115: I sit and watch the stupid boob tube. | |
![]() | Newsweek 26 Oct. 3: No longer do you hear the term ‘videot’ or ‘boob tuber’. | |
![]() | Llama Parlour 224: What’s on the old boob-tube? | |
![]() | Oz ser. 1 ep. 8 [TV script] he used to play the cello, till somebody smashed it. Now he sits in front of the boob tube all day. | ‘A Game of Checkers’|
![]() | Stalker (2001) 162: She parked herself in front of the TV and turned on the boob tube with the remote control. | |
![]() | Mad mag. Jan. 37: Anna Nicole has forever redefined the term ‘boob tube’. | |
![]() | Courier-Post (Camden, NJ) 25 Sept. 53/3: Television is the boob tube for many a reason. Among them a sitcom stinker from 1966. |
2. see also under boob n.3