drabble

¹

[ drab-uhl ]

verb (used with or without object)

, drab·bled, drab·bling.

1. to draggle; make or become wet and dirty.

Drabble

²

[ drab-uhl ]

noun

1. Dame Margaret, born 1939, English novelist, short-story writer, and biographer (sister of A. S. Byatt ).

drabble

¹

/ ˈdræbəl /

verb

1. to make or become wet or dirty

Drabble

²

/ ˈdræbəl /

noun

1. DrabbleDame Margaret1939FBritishWRITING: novelistWRITING: editor Dame Margaret. born 1939, British novelist and editor. Her novels include The Needle's Eye (1972), The Radiant Way (1987), and The Seven Sisters (2002). She edited the 1985 edition of the Oxford Companion to Literature

Word History and Origins

Origin of drabble¹

1350–1400; Middle English drabelen < Middle Low German drabbeln to wade in liquid mud, bespatter, equivalent to drabbe liquid mud + -eln frequentative v. suffix; drab ², draff

Word History and Origins

Origin of drabble¹

C14: from Low German drabbelen to paddle in mud; related to drab ²

Example Sentences

Margaret Drabble's new memoir, The Pattern in the Carpet , has just been published.

From The Daily Beast

The novelist and critic, Margaret Drabble  rescues Bennett this week from the worst of the charges against him.

From The Daily Beast

Miss Darrell had once begged very humbly that her cook Parker might take a lesson from her, but Mrs. Drabble refused point-blank.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a drabble of dead leaves on the sidewalk which was of wood, and on the roadway which was of macadam and stiff mud.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a wall between Cleg and the Drabble, a wall with a place for your toes.

From Project Gutenberg

After that the Drabble, an it liked him, might steal all the collars in the Pleasance.

From Project Gutenberg

The Drabble had a reason, or at least an excuse, for being on the spot.

From Project Gutenberg