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

People forget what a rabble United were when he took over as head coach in January and he has brought a bit of calmness to the club.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

“They really sound like this out-of-tune rabble, and you hear what maybe other people might have heard,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2025

Pakistan became a rabble, beset by misfields and overthrows, while six home bowlers conceded more than 100 runs.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024

It tells the story of a count and countess whiling away their days in a secluded villa surrounded by a garden as a horde of rabble rousers approaches.

From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024

“The rabble had already been roused before she got there,” Gherland sputtered.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

These are sair times wi' me, gentlemen and neighbours! amaist as ill as at the aughty-nine, when I was rabbled by the collegeaners.*

From The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 1 by Sir Walter Scott

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

The Episcopal clergymen were rabbled throughout all the western shires.

From Claverhouse by Mowbray Morris

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

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

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

They had abolished patronage; they had sanctioned the rabbling of the episcopal clergy; they had refused to pass a Toleration Act.

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

It is then turned on full, and a violent boiling action is maintained without any rabbling.

From The Galaxy, Volume 23, No. 2, February, 1877 by Various

The method that occurred to me was the substitution of a small steam pipe in the place of the puddler's rabbling bar.

From James Nasmyth: Engineer; an autobiography by Samuel Smiles

There are several modifications of the reverberatory furnace in use, designed mechanically to effect the rabbling.

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