O.B.E.

American  

abbreviation

1. Officer (of the Order) of the British Empire.

2. Order of the British Empire.

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OBE British  

abbreviation

1. Officer of the Order of the British Empire (a Brit title)

2. out-of-body experience

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Example Sentences

John Oliver, the late-night television host, said in an interview on the NBC show “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that he had rejected the O.B.E. because it was “loaded.”

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2023

In the bathroom at the back of the studio, there’s a stash of awards, including an O.B.E. from the Queen.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 28, 2016

Offered an O.B.E. by Tony Blair’s government in 2003, the poet Benjamin Zephaniah responded, “Stick it, Mr. Blair and Mrs. Queen.”

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2012

Brigadier at war's end, he emerged with the O.B.E. for services in invasion planning.

From Time Magazine Archive

We feel very jealous of the suburban gentleman who wrote last week asking what an O.B.E. was, and whether, if it was a bird, it should be fed on hemp-seed or ants' eggs.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-01-21 by Various