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

At times this season, Spurs have resembled an unmotivated rabble – which is why the frantic pumping of fists and wild celebrations also felt uncomfortable and, yes, embarrassing.

From BBC ● May 24, 2026

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

With “one black, one white, one blonde,” as the show’s tagline, “the rabble on the wrong side of the law was now the law,” said television critic Lorraine Ali in 2018.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2024

The heroes of the party are now living saints to the teary-eyed rabble who worship them.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2024

‘It needs more to make a king than a piece of elvish glass, or a rabble such as this. Why, any brigand of the hills can show as good a following!’

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

A form of notice was drawn up and served on every curate in the Western Lowlands who had not yet been rabbled.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

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

Unhappily throughout a large part of Scotland the clergy of the Established Church were, to use the phrase then common, rabbled.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay

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

Was it reasonable to ask her to mutilate her apostolical polity and her beautiful ritual for the purpose of conciliating those who wanted nothing but power to rabble her as they had rabbled her sister?

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 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

Hand rabbling in fixed furnaces has been largely superseded by mechanical rabbling.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 3 "Convention" to "Copyright" 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

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

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