rabble1
[rab-uh l]
- a disorderly crowd; mob.
- the rabble, the lower classes; the common people: The nobility held the rabble in complete contempt.
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- to beset as a rabble does; mob.
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Origin of rabble1
1350–1400; Middle English rabel (noun), of uncertain origin
rabble2
[rab-uh l]Metallurgy
- a tool or mechanically operated device used for stirring or mixing a charge in a roasting furnace.
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- to stir (a charge) in a roasting furnace.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rabble
Contemporary Examples
All the excitement of her rabble rousing had been suitably extinguished, along with our enthusiasm for this show.
‘Downton Abbey’ Finale Review: The Depressing Demise of a Once-Great ShowKevin Fallon
February 24, 2014
Earlier in the book, Murray waxed indignant about the "condescension toward the rabble" he detected in the new upper class.
The culture of the new upper class carries with it an unmistakable whiff of a 'we're better than the rabble' mentality.
Could the West rely on the more or less faceless Libyan opposition, a rabble in arms, to be so pliable?
I was trapped backstage with a rabble of photographers behind a security fence as the models filed out.
Historical Examples
She lifted one hand in a gesture of command, and called out to the rabble.
Priestess of the FlameSewell Peaslee Wright
Behind these stood a rabble of some thirty others at six sous apiece.
ScaramoucheRafael Sabatini
It is the day of the Dantons, and the Marats, the day of the rabble.
ScaramoucheRafael Sabatini
A person of breeding choosing the cause of the rout and rabble!
The StrollersFrederic S. Isham
And are these people—this rabble that you talk of—received as my papa's guests?
That Boy Of Norcott'sCharles James Lever
rabble1
- a disorderly crowd; mob
- the rabble derogatory the common people
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Word Origin
C14 (in the sense: a pack of animals): of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Middle Dutch rabbelen to chatter, rattle
rabble2
- 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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- (tr) to stir, mix, or skim (the molten charge) in a roasting furnace
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Word Origin
C17: from French râble, from Latin rutābulum rake for a furnace, from ruere to rake, dig up
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for rabble
n.1
c.1300, "pack of animals," possibly related to Middle English rablen "to gabble, speak in a rapid, confused manner," probably imitative of hurry, noise, and confusion (cf. Middle Dutch rabbelen, Low German rabbeln "to chatter"). Meaning "tumultuous crowd of vulgar, noisy people" is from late 14c.; applied contemptuously to the common or low part of any populace from 1550s.
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n.2
iron bar for stirring molten metal, 1864, from French râble, from Old French roable, from Latin rutabulum "rake, fire shovel," from ruere to rake up (perhaps cognate with Lithuanian raju "to pluck out," German roden "to root out").
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper