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COB

abbreviationShop talkShop Slang

A deadline meaning close of business, usually the end of the standard workday.

Close of business. This abbreviation sets a deadline for the end of the current working day, typically 5:00 PM in an office environment. On shift-based shop floors, it usually translates to the end of the first shift or the moment the front office locks up.

Heard on the job

Get those inspection reports on my desk by COB or we can't ship the batch tomorrow.

Insider tip

Using COB with international teams causes friction, as the close of business in one time zone is the middle of the night in another.

Also heard as

  • EOD

Related terms

Crunch time

The high-pressure period right before a major project deadline when long hours are required.

Clock out

To officially record the end of a work shift using a timecard, biometric scanner, or digital tracking system.

Same word, different worlds

Lighting & Color Science

Chip-on-Board: an LED array with many dies mounted closely under one phosphor layer, acting as a single compact source.

Printed Circuit Boards

Chip-on-board, an assembly method where a bare semiconductor die is mounted directly to the PCB.

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