bobbin

[ bob-in ]

noun

1. a reel, cylinder, or spool upon which yarn or thread is wound, as used in spinning, machine sewing, lacemaking, etc.
2. Electricity.
   1. a spoollike form around which a coil of insulated wire is wound to provide an inductance.
   2. the coil itself.

bobbin

/ ˈbɒbɪn /

noun

1. a spool or reel on which thread or yarn is wound, being unwound as required; spool; reel
2. narrow braid or cord used as binding or for trimming
3. a device consisting of a short bar and a length of string, used to control a wooden door latch
4. 1. a spool on which insulated wire is wound to form the coil of a small electromagnetic device, such as a bell or buzzer
   2. the coil of such a spool
5. slang.
   plural matter that is worthless or of inferior quality; rubbish

Word History and Origins

Origin of bobbin¹

1520–30; < Middle French bobine hank of thread, perhaps bob- an expressive base akin to bob ² + -ine -ine ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of bobbin¹

C16: from Old French bobine , of unknown origin

Example Sentences

The large courtyard was sunlit and humming with busyness, as twelve women sat at large frames making bobbin lace.

From Literature

Mr. Nassar was born on June 7, 1932, in Providence, R.I. and grew up in Lawrence, Mass. His parents worked at local mills, his father, Henry, as a weaver, and his mother, Helen, as a bobbin setter, according to “The Boston Stranglers,” a 1995 book by Susan Kelly.

From New York Times

The race pitted antislavery Rep. Nathaniel “Bobbin Boy” Banks, a member of the nativist American Party from Massachusetts, against candidates who were open to expanding slavery to new states and territories.

From Washington Post

A few days later, antislavery members lined up behind the American Party’s “Bobbin Boy” Banks, who as a boy worked in a textile factory carrying bobbins of thread to the women who operated the looms.

From Washington Post

You get to peek over the lacemaker’s shoulder: She is making bobbin lace, one of the most expensive commodities of early modern Europe.

From New York Times