Stobs

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A small, sharp or pointed object often used for piercing or impaling
2. Referring to spikes or protuberances that may serve as a barrier or a means to hold something in place
3. Used to describe pieces of wood or metal that have a pointed end, typically for security or structural purposes

Etymology: "Stobs" is the plural of "stob", a word that in English has long meant a stout stake or post driven into the ground. Its ancestor is Middle English "stob", which was a variant of "stub", the same stock of words that gives us the stump left behind when a tree is cut down. The shared sense is something short, blunt and rooted in place, and "stob" narrowed that idea to a pointed or sturdy upright. Over time the word took on the sense the dictionary now records for it: spikes or projections that either block passage or hold something fast. Fences, dykes and walls were once reinforced with such stakes, and the stakes did the work of keeping things where they belonged. A protruding point that stops movement and a post that anchors a structure are two faces of one older idea, which is why the word can describe both a barrier and a fastening.