Crossword clues for rabble
rabble
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rabble \Rab"ble\, n. [Probably named from the noise made by it (see Rabble, v. i.) cf. D. rapalje rabble, OF. & Prov. F. rapaille.]
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A tumultuous crowd of vulgar, noisy people; a mob; a confused, disorderly throng.
I saw, I say, come out of London, even unto the presence of the prince, a great rabble of mean and light persons.
--Ascham.Jupiter, Mercury, Bacchus, Venus, Mars, and the whole rabble of licentious deities.
--Bp. Warburton. -
A confused, incoherent discourse; a medley of voices; a chatter.
The rabble, the lowest class of people, without reference to an assembly; the dregs of the people. ``The rabble call him `lord.'''
--Shak.
Rabble \Rab"ble\, v. i. [Akin to D. rabbelen, Prov. G. rabbeln, to prattle, to chatter: cf. L. rabula a brawling advocate, a pettifogger, fr. rabere to rave. Cf. Rage.] To speak in a confused manner. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Rabble \Rab"ble\, v. t. To stir or skim with a rabble, as molten iron.
Rabble \Rab"ble\ (r[a^]b"b'l), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Iron Manuf.) An iron bar, with the end bent, used in stirring or skimming molten iron in the process of puddling.
Rabble \Rab"ble\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rabbled (r[a^]b"b'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rabbling (r[a^]b"bl[i^]ng).]
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To insult, or assault, by a mob; to mob; as, to rabble a curate.
--Macaulay.The bishops' carriages were stopped and the prelates themselves rabbled on their way to the house.
--J. R. Green. To utter glibly and incoherently; to mouth without intelligence. [Obs. or Scot.]
--Foxe.To rumple; to crumple. [Scot.]
Rabble \Rab"ble\, a.
Of or pertaining to a rabble; like, or suited to, a rabble;
disorderly; vulgar. [R.]
--Dryden.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
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 (compare 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.
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").
Wiktionary
n. 1 A mob; a disorderly crowd. 2 The mass of common people; the lowest class of people.
WordNet
disparaging terms for the common people [syn: riffraff, ragtag, ragtag and bobtail]
Wikipedia
Rabble may refer to:
- Hoi Polloi, a negative term for the common people.
- rabble.ca, a Canadian website
- An arrow in the arcade game Libble Rabble
- Rabble of Devilkin, characters in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game
- Rabble Starkey, a novel
- The Rabble, a New Zealand music group
- An iron bar used in the manufacture of iron and steel
Usage examples of "rabble".
Grandiose inscriptions were displayed all about to commemorate my benefactions, but my refusal to exempt the inhabitants from a tax which they were quite able to pay soon alienated that rabble from me.
He should get the impression that these rabble biped bands are a serious revolt.
Dolfin then came on deck, but they were compelled to listen to the chaplain, and to promise, in order to pacify the vile rabble, that they would land me at the first opportunity.
I knew instantly that this rabble were the survivors of an encounter with Chubby Andrews, and that it had been too much for their nerves.
Ah, vile rabble, your low and base intelligence does not deserve to have heaven communicate to you the great worth of knight errantry, or allow you to understand the sin and ignorance into which you have fallen when you do not reverence the shadow, let alone the actual presence, of any knight errant.
Greg Grom was highly educated superstitious rabble, and he was scared out of his socks.
Latin against that rabble, the plague of Italy, and against the inn-keeper who had been rascally enough to open the door.
One of the Earthmen is Hander Morl, a brilliant organizer and rabble rouser.
He invited me to dine with him every Thursday, and undertook to send me a janissary who would protect me from the insults of the rabble and shew me everything worth seeing.
He advised me to give the rabble a louis to buy drink, and thus to rid myself of them, on which I gave him the louis, begging him to see to it himself, and the bargain was soon struck.
Had he been the victim, he would have tracked the rabble down and killed them, but not so this forgiving youngster.
Because the host consists primarily of lordless rabble, it comes to be called the Vulgar Holy War.
Kenrick has come to inform us of another attack on a nearby manor, this time-only five miles on the far side of Oakham, more than Ftkely the work of that devil, Mauger of Often, or the rabble of unruly routiers he keeps to attend him.
Was some shaper greater than Nen Yim Shamed, that this knowledge would reside with the rabble?
Turks had become a demoralized rabble, fleeing to the fords of the Jordan, like the discomfited Midianites, under Oreb and Zeeb, had fled more than three thousand years before from the pursuit of Gideon.