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

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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

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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

When the rabble in the street gets too close to the presidential palace for comfort, they keep half an eye on Florida real estate, much like Northeast Corridor retirees.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026

Chelsea are free-scoring and their front-line is so dynamic - but they are leaking goals left, right and centre and they are a bit of a rabble at the back.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 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

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

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2025

‘Can’t you stop your rabble making such a racket, Shagrat?’ grunted the one.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

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

The bishops' carriages were stopped, and the prelates themselves rabbled on their way to the House.

From History of the English People, Volume V Puritan England, 1603-1660 by John Richard Green

"It looks as though it had been rabbled up for the purpose," cried Hurst, in schoolboy phraseology, bending down and touching it gingerly with his finger.

From The Channings by Mrs. Henry Wood

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

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

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

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

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

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

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