What does blob mean?
A blob is a small, rounded lump or drop of something soft, thick, or liquid — a blob of paint, cream, jam, or wax — or, more loosely, any shapeless mass whose outline is vague or indistinct. The word carries an inherently informal, slightly playful tone: nobody speaks of blobs in elevated prose, yet the term is indispensable for describing the messy, amorphous things that precise vocabulary struggles to capture. It also appears in computing, where 'binary large object' (BLOB) names a way databases store images, audio, and other unstructured data as a single unit. Derived from an older word meaning a bubble or blister, 'blob' has proved remarkably durable, spawning derivatives like 'blobby' and even lending its name to the famously saggy deep-sea creature known as the blobfish. For anyone describing formless matter, it remains the natural first choice.
A small round lump or drop of a soft, thick, or viscous substance.
"A blob of butter melted slowly in the hot pan."
A shapeless or indistinct mass or figure.
"In the photograph, the distant boat appeared only as a grey blob."
(Computing) A binary large object: an unstructured collection of binary data stored as a single unit in a database.
"The application stores each uploaded image as a BLOB in the database."
Usually written capitalized as 'BLOB' in technical documentation.
To drop, place, or spread something in lumps or blobs.
"She blobbed spoonfuls of batter onto the baking sheet."
Regular plural; used when referring to multiple lumps or masses.
"Green blobs of algae dotted the surface of the pond."
The word 'blob' is so beloved in Britain that it even named a fish — the blobfish was voted the world's ugliest animal and became an unofficial mascot.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of blob
The origin of 'blob' is somewhat obscure, though it is generally thought to be a variant or blend connected to 'blub', an old word meaning to bubble up or swell, itself possibly of imitative origin. It appeared in English by at least the early 18th century in the sense of a bubble or blister, before settling into its modern meaning of a soft lump or shapeless mass. Its sound-symbolic character — echoing words like 'blub' and 'bubble' — reflects the way English often forms words around the physical behavior of liquids and soft matter.
Related word forms
How blob is actually used
Informal to neutral register; common in everyday speech and light writing, less common in formal prose. In computing, 'BLOB' is a technical acronym (binary large object) used in database contexts.
Easily confused with blob
A blot is a spot or stain that spoils a surface, while a blob is a rounded lump or mass of soft substance.
A glob is essentially the same kind of shapeless lump as a blob but is the more American colloquial variant of the word.