lob

Etymology 1

First attested late 16th c. in the sense "allow or cause to dangle, hang," from sense 2.

verb

1. (transitive) To throw or hit a ball into the air in a high arch.
   The guard lobbed a pass just over the defender.
   The tennis player lobbed the ball, which was a costly mistake.
2. (transitive, colloquial) To throw.
   In the months leading up to the election, government representatives took up a cybercrime case against Thanathorn for criticising the government on a Facebook Live video... They also lobbed more legal cases at his party for allegedly spreading false information. 2019-04-06, Caleb Quinley, “Thailand: Anti-military party leader faces sedition charges”, in Al Jazeera, Doha: Al Jazeera, retrieved 2019-04-06
   I'm sure the Brunel-designed stone-built structure would have had a hatstand for his trademark stovepipe. I can picture him rocking up there of a morning and lobbing it nonchalantly onto the hatstand. December 29 2021, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Chippenham (1841)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 57
3. (transitive, colloquial) To put, place.
   Lob the bacon in the pot.
4. (transitive, sports) To hit, kick, or throw a ball over another player in a game.
   Wigan took the lead when Hugo Rodallega lobbed David Stockdale from close range having earlier headed against the post. January 15, 2011, Nabil Hassan, “Wigan 1 - 1 Fulham”, in BBC
5. (obsolete, transitive) To let fall heavily or lazily.

noun

1. (ball, sports) A pass or stroke which arches high into the air.
   The guard launched a desperate lob over the outstretched arms of the defender.
   Peter Lovenkrands went close for the Magpies, hitting the bar with a fine lob after he had been played in by the excellent Jose Enrique on the left. February 12, 2011, Nabil Hassan, “Blackburn 0 - 0 Newcastle”, in BBC

Etymology 2

From Middle English lob (“a lazy lout, bundle of clothing”), from Old English *lobb, *lobbe word for lumpish or unwieldy things, from Proto-Germanic *lubbǭ (“that which hangs or dangles”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ-, *lep- (“to peel, skin”). Compare Danish lobbes (“bumpkin, clown”), Old English loppe (“spider”) (in the sense of something that hangs or dangles). Possibly influenced or borrowed through Welsh llob (“lump”).

noun

1. A lump.
   And, moreover, I had no sooner set my eyes on the keys, than I remembered where there was a lob of money lying in Purcell's safe, that I 1875, M.L. Kenny, The fortunes of Maurice Cronin, page 126
2. (obsolete) A country bumpkin; a yokel.
   Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone: Our queen and all her elves come here anon. 1594, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, act II scene I
   THE country lob trudged home very much concerned and thoughtful, you may swear; insomuch that his good woman, seeing him thus look moping, weened that something had been stolen from him at market […] 1694, Peter Anthony Motteux, The Fourth Book, translation of original by Rabelais, Chapter XLVII
3. A clumsy person.
4. The person who comes last in a race.
5. A lob-worm.

Etymology 3

From Middle English lob (“pollock”), cognate with Middle Dutch and Middle Low German lobbe (“a type of small plump or stocky fish, cod”), Danish lubbe, from Old Norse lubba, ultimately from sense 2 in the sense of "clumsy, heavily or lumpily hanging."

noun

1. A fish, the European pollock.

Etymology 4

verb

1. (mining) To cob (chip off unwanted pieces of stone).