rabble

[rab-uh l]

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. 2018

Examples from the Web for rabbling

Historical Examples of rabbling

It is then turned on full, and a violent boiling action is maintained without any rabbling.
The Galaxy, Volume 23, No. 2, February, 1877
Various
One of the worst cases of rabbling, which the Episcopalians described as a tragedy, took place at Kirkpatrick in Annandale.
The Early History of the Scottish Union Question
George W. T. Omond
There are several modifications of the reverberatory furnace in use, designed mechanically to effect the rabbling.
Getting Gold
J. C. F. Johnson
Hamilton insisted that the question, should be, "Approve or not approve the rabbling?"
The History of England from the Accession of James II.
Thomas Babington Macaulay
They had abolished patronage; they had sanctioned the rabbling of the episcopal clergy; they had refused to pass a Toleration Act.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.
Thomas Babington Macaulay

British Dictionary definitions for rabbling

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 rabbling

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.

rabble

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").