Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
rabble 1[rab-uh l] ExamplesWord Origin 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 1 1350–1400; Middle English rabel (noun), of uncertain origin rabble 2 [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 2 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 instrumentRelated formsrab·bler, noun 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?
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.
Sewell Peaslee Wright
Behind these stood a rabble of some thirty others at six sous apiece.
Rafael Sabatini
It is the day of the Dantons, and the Marats, the day of the rabble.
Rafael Sabatini
A person of breeding choosing the cause of the rout and rabble!
Frederic S. Isham
And are these people—this rabble that you talk of—received as my papa’s guests?
Charles James Lever
British Dictionary definitions for rabble rabble 1 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 2 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 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”).