obbon.
/ˈɒbəʊ/, U.S. /ˈɑboʊ/ slang.
1. Military. An observation balloon. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > balloon > types of balloon
fire balloon1754
Montgolfier1783
hot-air balloon1843
sausage1858
sausage balloon1874
observation balloon1909
obbo1925
aerostat1974
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 212 Obbo, observation balloon.
1940 E. Partridge Slang 192 An observation balloon is an obbo or a sausage.
2. Observation, esp. in police work; an assignment involving this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > [noun]
spying1338
espying1340
espialc1386
espyc1386
spyc1450
especiala1500
spieryc1588
intelligence1602
worming1607
scouting1644
espionage1793
spyism1847
spydom1859
obbo1933
great game1936
spooking1977
society > law > law enforcement > investigation of crime > [noun] > other specific methods
shadowing1890
entrapment1899
obbo1933
stop1968
sting1976
1933 C. E. Leach On Top of Underworld 9 I am still ‘on the trail’, like you, and my thoughts hark back to the long weary days and nights of ‘obbo’ (observation) and shadowing.
1968 R. Busby & G. Holtham Main Line Kill vi. 68 Now I got a fix on the place I got to do some obo first. Get the lie of the land.
1972 ‘B. Graeme’ Tomorrow's Yesterday xi. 117 We're keeping a man, suspected of robbery..under obbo.
1998 R. Newman Manners 85 Midway through a succession of repetitive home beats me and Kieran were on our way back from an obbo.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1925