rabble

rab·ble

a noisy, disorderly crowd; mob

Origin of rabble

Middle English rabel from uncertain or unknown; perhaps or akin to Medieval Latin rabulus, brawling, noisy from Classical Latin rabula, a brawling advocate from rabere: see rabid

transitive verb

-·bled, -·bling

to attack as or by a rabble; mob

rabble Idioms

the rabble

the common people; the masses: a term of contempt

an iron bar used to stir and skim molten iron in puddling

Origin of rabble

French râble from Old French roable from Medieval Latin rotabulum, poker from Classical Latin rutabulum, stirrer from ruere, to rake up from Indo-European base an unverified form reu-, to dig up from source rid, rubble

transitive verb

-·bled, -·bling

to stir or skim with such a bar

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"rabble." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 March 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Rabble>.

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rabble. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Rabble

rabble

noun

A tumultuous crowd; a mob.
The lowest or unrefined class of people. Often used with the.
A group of persons regarded with contempt: “After subsisting on the invisible margins of the art scene … he was 'discovered' in the mid-80's, along with a crowd of like-minded rabble from the East Village” ( Richard B. Woodward )

Origin of rabble

Middle English

noun

An iron bar used to stir and skim molten iron in puddling.
Any of various similar tools or mechanically operated devices used in roasting or refining furnaces.

transitive verb

rab·bled, rab·bling, rab·bles

To stir or skim (molten iron) with an iron bar.

Origin of rabble

French râble fire shovel from Old French roable from Medieval Latin rotābulum from Latin rutābulum from rutus past participle of ruere to rake up, tumble down

Related Forms:

rab′bler
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.