rabble

¹ American  

[rab-uhl] / ˈræb əl /

noun

1. a disorderly crowd; mob.

2. the rabble, the lower classes; the common people.

   The nobility held the rabble in complete contempt.

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verb (used with object)

rabbled, rabbling

1. to beset as a rabble does; mob.

rabble ² American  

[rab-uhl] / ˈræb əl /

noun

1. a tool or mechanically operated device used for stirring or mixing a charge in a roasting furnace.

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verb (used with object)

rabbled, rabbling

1. to stir (a charge) in a roasting furnace.

rabble ¹ British  

/ ˈræbəl /

noun

1. a disorderly crowd; mob

2. derogatory the common people

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rabble ² British  

/ ˈræbəl /

noun

1. Also called: rabbler. an iron tool or mechanical device for stirring, mixing, or skimming a molten charge in a roasting furnace

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verb

1. (tr) to stir, mix, or skim (the molten charge) in a roasting furnace

Other Word Forms

• rabbler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of rabble¹

1350–1400; Middle English rabel (noun), of uncertain origin

Origin of rabble²

1655–65; < French râble fire-shovel, tool, Middle French raable < Latin rutābulum implement for shifting hot coals, equivalent to *rutā ( re ) presumed frequentative of ruere to churn up, disturb + -bulum suffix of instrument

Explanation

A rabble is a noisy gathering of people. The police might arrive to calm the rabble that crowds the sidewalks after a huge win for the local football team. You can use the noun rabble for any mob of angry or excited people, whether it's a political gathering or a rowdy celebration. Rabble also means "commoners," but it's a snobby and somewhat offensive way to talk about ordinary folks: "The king preferred to stay inside his castle, far away from the rabble." Originally, rabble meant "pack of animals."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rabble rabbled rabbling

Meta is far from the only company trying to build quickly without inspiring too much input from the rabble.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

At times this season, Spurs have resembled an unmotivated rabble – which is why the frantic pumping of fists and wild celebrations also felt uncomfortable and, yes, embarrassing.

From BBC ● May 24, 2026

Steve Clarke's side looked like a disorganised rabble just waiting to be put out of their misery.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2025

For an actor who has long leveraged his baby-faced looks to play everything from lustful teenagers and rabble rousers to narcos and soccer players, his portrayal of Andy marks a departure for the actor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2024

Not a great thinker, not the mastermind of the rebellion, merely a face plucked from the rabble because I had caught the nation’s attention with my antics in the Games.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

The ores in this furnace should therefore be fed in at the colder end of the hearth and be gradually worked or "rabbled" forward to the firing end.

From Getting Gold: a practical treatise for prospectors, miners and students by J. C. F. (Joseph Colin Frances) Johnson

In the Western Lowlands, the beneficed clergy had been so effectually rabbled, that scarcely one of them had remained at his post.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

He thought that the rabbled curates had been hardly treated.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 4 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

Surely, it was said, a rabbled curate might well be left to the severe scrutiny of the sixty Inquisitors.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

Unhappily throughout a large part of Scotland the clergy of the Established Church were, to use the phrase then common, rabbled.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

Instead of expressing amused bewilderment at the peculiarity of fame--a strategy Colin Farrell has perfected--he was defiant, his Maximusian scowl declaring "How dare you be intrigued by me, ungrateful rabbling dogs!"

From Time Magazine Archive

One disadvantage of the reverberatory furnace is the fact that it is impossible to avoid the incursion of air during the manual rabbling action, and this tends to cool the furnace.

From Getting Gold: a practical treatise for prospectors, miners and students by J. C. F. (Joseph Colin Frances) Johnson

Of mechanically rabbling furnaces we may mention the O’Harra modified by Allen-Brown, the Hixon, the Keller-Gaylord-Cole, the Ropp, the Spence, the Wethey, the Parkes, Pearce’s “Turret” and Brown’s “Horseshoe” furnaces.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 3 "Convention" to "Copyright" by Various

Hamilton insisted that the question, should be, "Approve or not approve the rabbling?"

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

I might have put it, ‘In the King’s name,’ but what I meant was that we are to proceed in decency and order—no unseemly rabbling, scuffling, or mischief making—otherwise ye have me to reckon with.

From The Dew of Their Youth by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett