lob v.

mid-14c., "big, clumsy, stupid fellow who lives in idleness," from lobre, earlier lobi "lazy lout," probably of Scandinavian origin (compare Swedish dialectal lubber "a plump, lazy fellow"). But OED suggests a possible connection with Old French lobeor "swindler, parasite," with sense altered by association with lob (n.) in the "bumpkin" sense. Sometimes also Lubbard (1580s), with pejorative suffix -ard.

Since 16c. mainly a sailors' word for those inept or inexperienced at sea (as in landlubber), but earliest attested use is of lazy monks (abbey-lubber). Compare also provincial English lubberwort, name of the mythical herb that produces laziness (1540s), Lubberland "imaginary land of plenty without work" (1590s).

"thick gruel," especially as a typical rustic dish, also the word for a nautical medicinal remedy, 1590s, probably from lob in some sense (or perhaps it is imitative of bubbling and boiling) + lolly, an obsolete Devonshire dialect word for "broth, soup, food boiled in a pot." Compare lobscouse (1706), another obscure word for a sailor's dish. Meaning "loutish person, bumpkin" is from c. 1600. Loblolly-pine "swamp-pine, an inferior lumber-producing tree growing in the U.S. South" is from 1760.

"droop, hang loosely," as do the ears of certain dogs and rabbits, 1570s, probably a variant of lob or of lap (v.); compare lopsided (1711), which in early use also was lapsided. Lop-eared attested from 1680s. Related: Lopped; lopping.