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colloq.Brit. /
n
bl/, U.S. /n
b(
)l/ Forms: 18- nobble; Eng. regional 17 noble, 18- nabble. [Apparently < NOB v.1 + -LE suffix. Compare KNOB v., earlier KNUBBLE v., and later KNOBBLE v.
Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. nobble sb. and v.1 connects this word with the use of nobble to denote ‘the round head of a walking stick’ (compare KNOBBLE n.), although the only example of the noun use given there postdates evidence for the verb.]
1. trans. To strike, hit, beat up; to stun.
1744 [implied in
NOBBLER n. 1].
1841 C. H. HARTSHORNE Salopia Antiqua 517
Nobler, a man whose duty it is to remind inattentive youths in church, of their misbehaviour, by ‘nobling’ them, or hitting them on the head with a wand.
1865 VISCT. MILTON &
W. B. CHEADLE North-west Passage by Land xv. 306 His son had succeeded in ‘nobbling’ a brace of partridges, knocking the young birds out of the trees with short sticks, missiles they used with great dexterity.
1928 A. E. PEASE Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 88/1 Ah've nobbled rattens wi' ma puli mair na yance.
1971 R. ALLEN Suedehead x. 83 He'd play the ‘game’ and nobble the bastard once they reached where the queer lived.
1982 ‘J. G
ASH’
Spend Game xvi. 124 ‘They've got two blokes to nobble you.’.. Real aggro men who'll marmalize anybody for a few quid.
2. trans.
a. To tamper with (a horse or greyhound) to prevent it from winning a race, e.g. by giving it a drug or laming it. Also intr.
1847 [implied in
NOBBLING n.].
1859 C. J. LEVER Davenport Dunn iv, A shadowy vision of creditors ‘done’, horses ‘nobbled’.
1868 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 May (Farmer), Buccaneer..was nobbled,
i.e. maimed purposely, before the Two Thousand in which he was engaged.
1881 Standard 22 June 3/4 The libel accused the Plaintiff of being a party to ‘nobbling’ a horse..with the object of raising the odds against it.
1933 P. G. WODEHOUSE Heavy Weather iii. 34 At any moment..the bounder was liable to come sneaking in, mask on face and poison-needle in hand, intent on nobbling the favourite.
1951 R. GRAVES Occupation: Writer (1974) 183 I'm not allowed to accept sweets from racing-men. Mother said so particularly. Bill..you tell him how to
nobble
I've forgotten.
1989 Daily Tel. 1 Nov. 1/5 The intention was to nobble horses that were either favourite or second favourite to win races.
b. In extended use: to harm, injure; to create problems for, to handicap.
1860 C. W. WILSON Jrnl. 1 Aug. in
Mapping Frontier (1970) 113, I will try & give you a little news in spite of my arm which has been lately nobbled by a tarantula & is a good deal swelled still.
1939 H. NICOLSON Diary 20 Sept. (1967) 36 Margesson insisted that..he [
sc. Churchill] must be ‘nobbled’ by having a department which would occupy all his time.
1960 J. F
INGLETON Four Chukkas to Austral. xvii. 142 He was left bereft when this particular style of ‘nobbling’ the opposition was outwitted in the first Test.
1988 T. L
OVETT Radical Approaches to Adult Educ. (BNC) 194 In most sports, some competitors are nobbled from the start. They can never win, and when it looks like they might, someone moves the goal post.
1995 M. AMIS Information (1996) 286 He..was even pretty sorry to hear about her father's pretty serious heart attack, which had nobbled him that same Sunday night.
3. trans.
a. To swindle, cheat. Obs.
1852 G. A. SALA in
Househ. Words 2 Oct. 53/1 Attract the sympathies of the benevolent, and loosen their purse strings; or, as he phrased it ‘nobble the flats’.
1854 THACKERAY Newcomes I. xxv. 244, I don't know out of how much the reverend party has nobbled his poor old sister.
1890 in A. Barrère & C G. Leland
Dict. Slang, Jargon & Cant II. 89/1 Don't you fancy the hunemployed bunkum has nobbled me: not such a mug!
b. To steal; to obtain by dishonest methods.
1855 THACKERAY Newcomes II. xix. 191 After nobbling her money for the beauty of the family.
1889 D. C. MURRAY &
H. MURRAY Dangerous Catspaw 207 A gentleman in your position might as well nobble the Griffin outside as steal them stones.
1924 J. H. W
ILKINSON Leeds Dial. Gloss. & Lore 158 Doan't leave thi beg (bag) theer, it'll get nobbled.
1995 Nation 30 Oct. 500 Keyes became a protégé of Allan Bloom as a Cornell undergraduate before following Bloom to Harvard, where he nobbled a Ph.D.
4. trans. To secure the support of by unfair or underhand methods; to influence the opinion or actions of in advance of a formal decision. Also: to accost, esp. with the aim of persuasion.
1856 LD. CLARENDON Let. in H. R. C. Wellesley
Paris Embassy (1928) 103 Morny..seems to have talked with enthusiasm about the Empress-mother, and to have been quite nobbled by her.
1865 [see
NOBBLING n.].
1884 Manch. Examiner 15 Oct. 5/5 He must be a very clumsy operator who, when he wishes to nobble a newspaper, does it by cash down.
1889 Times 2 May 9/5 A cool attempt to nobble the Council on the question of the licensing of music-halls.
1912 F. M. HUEFFER Panel I. ii. 31 ‘Oh, I see,’ the major said amiably, ‘you want to nobble her before she makes any business arrangements with my uncle.’
1981 Daily Tel. 29 Sept. 6/5 An increase in attempts to ‘nobble’ juries is worrying police and lawyers at the Old Bailey.
1998 A. G
ERAS Silent Snow, Secret Snow 113 The Maestro nobbled Carlo just as he was on his way to the kitchen with Marianne.
5. trans. To get hold of, seize, catch. Also: to kidnap.
1877 J. GREENWOOD Dick Temple I. ii. 73 There's a fiver in the puss, and nine good quid... Nobble him, lads, and share it betwixt you.
1888 ‘R. BOLDREWOOD’ Robbery under Arms I. xi. 132 We're bound to be nobbled some day.
1932 H. J. MASSINGHAM Wold without End 296 Off he goes to ‘bibble’ a mug of scrumpy and ‘nobble’ a hunk of cheese.
1968 M. WOODHOUSE Rock Baby viii. 64 We've got this Shackleton we've nobbled off Coastal Command.
1988 Big Fish May-June 43/2 Although we caught loads of bream and tench, no one ever nobbled a roach.
1991 D. W
HITFIELD State of Prisons (BNC) 171 Sometimes a resident..was thought by one of his fellow citizens to be particularly obnoxious or dangerous... A few of his fellow citizens would wait until the train was about to depart, nobble him and throw him on the train.
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