\Cob\, n. [Cf. AS. cop, copp, head, top, D. kop, G. kopf,
kuppe, LL. cuppa cup (cf. E. brainpan), and also W. cob tuft,
spider, cop, copa, top, summit, cobio to thump. Cf. {Cop}
top, {Cup}, n.]
1. The top or head of anything. [Obs.] --W. Gifford.
2. A leader or chief; a conspicuous person, esp. a rich
   covetous person. [Obs.]
         All cobbing country chuffs, which make their bellies
         and their bags their god, are called rich cobs.
                                               --Nash.
3. The axis on which the kernels of maize or indian corn
   grow. [U. S.]
4. (Zo["o]l.) A spider; perhaps from its shape; it being
   round like a head.
5. (Zo["o]l.) A young herring. --B. Jonson.
6. (Zo["o]l.) A fish; -- also called {miller's thumb}.
7. A short-legged and stout horse, esp. one used for the
   saddle. [Eng.]
8. (Zo["o]l.) A sea mew or gull; esp., the black-backed gull
   ({Larus marinus}). [Written also {cobb}.]
9. A lump or piece of anything, usually of a somewhat large
   size, as of coal, or stone.
10. A cobnut; as, Kentish cobs. See {Cobnut}. [Eng.]
11. Clay mixed with straw. [Prov. Eng.]
          The poor cottager contenteth himself with cob for
          his walls, and thatch for his covering. --R. Carew.
12. A punishment consisting of blows inflicted on the
    buttocks with a strap or a flat piece of wood. --Wright.
13. A Spanish coin formerly current in Ireland, worth abiut
    4s. 6d. [Obs.] --Wright.
{Cob coal}, coal in rounded lumps from the size of an egg to
   that of a football; -- called also {cobbles}. --Grose.
{Cob loaf}, a crusty, uneven loaf, rounded at top. --Wright.
{Cob money}, a kind of rudely coined gold and silver money of
   Spanish South America in the eighteenth century. The coins
   were of the weight of the piece of eight, or one of its
   aliquot parts.

\Cob\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cobbed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Cobbing}.]
1. To strike [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
2. (Mining) To break into small pieces, as ore, so as to sort
   out its better portions. --Raymond.
3. (Naut.) To punish by striking on the buttocks with a
   strap, a flat piece of wood, or the like.