rabble

[rab-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rabble ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a disorderly crowd; mob.

the rabble, the lower classes; the common people: The nobility held the rabble in complete contempt.

verb (used with object), rab·bled, rab·bling.

to beset as a rabble does; mob.

Origin of rabble

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

rabble

[rab-uh l]Metallurgy

noun

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

verb (used with object), rab·bled, rab·bling.

to stir (a charge) in a roasting furnace.

Origin of rabble

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

Related formsrab·bler, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rabble

gathering, horde, riot, proletariat, crowd, masses, throng, herd, riffraff, commonality, mass, gang, scum, flock, drove, ring, multitude, pack

Examples from the Web for rabble

Contemporary Examples of rabble

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 Show
Kevin Fallon
February 24, 2014
Earlier in the book, Murray waxed indignant about the "condescension toward the rabble" he detected in the new upper class.
Social Science Minus the Science
David Frum
February 8, 2012
The culture of the new upper class carries with it an unmistakable whiff of a 'we're better than the rabble' mentality.
Charles Murray's Imaginary Elite
David Frum
February 7, 2012
Could the West rely on the more or less faceless Libyan opposition, a rabble in arms, to be so pliable?
Obama's Mistake in Libya
Christopher Dickey
March 8, 2011
I was trapped backstage with a rabble of photographers behind a security fence as the models filed out.
The World's Savviest Supermodel
Dom Phillips
May 31, 2010

Historical Examples of rabble

She lifted one hand in a gesture of command, and called out to the rabble.
Priestess of the Flame
Sewell Peaslee Wright
Behind these stood a rabble of some thirty others at six sous apiece.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
It is the day of the Dantons, and the Marats, the day of the rabble.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
A person of breeding choosing the cause of the rout and rabble!
The Strollers
Frederic S. Isham
And are these people—this rabble that you talk of—received as my papa's guests?
That Boy Of Norcott's
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for rabble

rabble

noun

a disorderly crowd; mob

the rabble derogatory the common people

Word Origin for rabble

C14 (in the sense: a pack of animals): of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Middle Dutch rabbelen to chatter, rattle

rabble

noun

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

verb

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

Word Origin for rabble

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

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").