bob up

Idioms and Phrases

Appear suddenly or unexpectedly. For example, I didn't know anyone in the group until Harry bobbed up . This term uses the verb bob in the sense of “to bounce,” a usage dating from Chaucer's day. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

Drilling rigs bob up and down across much of the landscape, allowing the county to produce more oil and gas than any other statewide.

From Washington Post

The boys packed together at the front of the field and started to bob up and down together.

From Washington Post

This much Venetian painting doesn’t bob up often on our side of the Atlantic, and the National Gallery has exceptionally obtained two of the nine mesmerizing paintings he painted shortly after 1500 for the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, the epicenter of Carpaccio.

From New York Times

Their heads and necks will bob up and down, more closely resembling lances drawn and thrust in a medieval battle than silly birds comically bumbling around.

From Salon

Songs organically bob up from the instrumental score, which grooves along with repetitive patterns, broken waltzes and echoes of the song melodies.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• arrive
• come
• come out
• crop up
• develop
• emerge
• materialize
• occur
• pop up
• present
• show
• show up
• surface
• turn out
• turn up