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mobile

mobile

79 6.3
A hanging decoration with parts that move in the air
  • noun
  • /ˈmoʊbəl/
translation icon : móvil
  • Mom's face softened as my sister's fist unclenched and the mobile fell to the floor.
  • Calder's hanging mobile

Examples

  • I looked up at the exposed ceiling fixture where the lampshade and mobile had come unmoored.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • There's been a display of the mobile sculptures of Alexander Calder.

  • The electricity system may be likened to a giant mobile with suspended weights.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Maybe make a mobile; she used to like to make mobiles out of wire hangers and cut-out stars.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Street signs, funny posters, faux Tiffany lamps, mobiles, lava lamps, an inflatable sex doll, etc.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Brahms played incessantly while bright mobiles wobbled from monitor stands and the Madonnas blinked serenely.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The colorful mobile above the crib kept the baby entertained as it spun gently.

  • In the art gallery, the mobile made of metal and glass danced gracefully in the breeze.

  • He crafted a beautiful mobile featuring birds and stars that hung from the ceiling.

Antonyms

stabile
  • Specialized
1 9.3

A sculpture with fixed metal parts on a base

Compounds

58 1.0

A small telephone you carry to call, text, and go online

29 2.5

A large house made in a factory that can be moved and has water and electricity

1 4.2

A bay off the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern Alabama where the Mobile River flows

A temporary barrier on a road that slows vehicles and guides traffic

A river in southwest Alabama that flows into Mobile Bay

A vehicle that serves food and drinks to people at work sites or events

primum mobile
  • Archaic
9.9

A being that starts all motion and has no cause itself

How Mobile

whirligig
8.5
kinetic sculpture
  • Specialized
6.5
wind chime
10 2.8
mobile
79 6.3
hanging
26 1.1

Surface Forms

mobile singular
mobiles plural

Etymology

Mobile comes from the Latin mobilis, meaning 'movable', and shares the same root as move and motion. A decorative mobile hangs and turns in the air, so it is literally a 'movable' piece of art.