different between drabble vs rabble

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?æb?l/
• Rhymes: -æb?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English drabelan

Verb

drabble (third-person singular simple present drabbles, present participle drabbling, simple past and past participle drabbled)

1. (transitive) To wet or dirty, especially by dragging through mud.
2. (intransitive) To fish with a long line and rod.

   to drabble for barbels

Etymology 2

From a word game in Monty Python's Big Red Book in which the first player to write a novel wins; the UK Science Fiction fandom agreed that 100 words will suffice; not, as is sometimes stated, from the surname of the author Margaret Drabble.

Noun

drabble (plural drabbles)

1. A short fictional story, typically in fan fiction, sometimes exactly 100 words long.

Usage notes

The "100 words" limit is the original meaning, although in practice (and drabble purists have denounced this extension), it frequently extends up to around 500 words, with a variety of limits used.

Synonyms

• flash fiction, flashfic, microfiction, short short story, spamfic, sudden fiction

Further reading

• An example of a German language drabble

See also

• “drabble” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “drabble”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).

Anagrams

• barbled, dabbler, rabbled

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??æb?l/
• Rhymes: -æb?l

Etymology 1

First attested since 1300s, from Middle English rablen (“to ramble; rave; speak in a confused manner”), cognate with Middle Dutch rabbelen (“to talk; chatter; trifle”), Low German rabbeln, robbeln (“to chatter; prattle”).

Alternative forms

• ravel

Verb

rabble (third-person singular simple present rabbles, present participle rabbling, simple past and past participle rabbled)

1. (intransitive) To speak in a confused manner; talk incoherently; utter nonsense
2. (transitive) To speak confusedly or incoherently; gabble or chatter out

Etymology 2

From Middle English rabel, probably from the verb (see above).

Noun

rabble (plural rabbles)

1. (obsolete) A bewildered or meaningless string of words.
2. (obsolete) A pack of animals; or any confused collection of things.
3. A mob; a disorderly crowd. [from late 14^th c.]
4. (derogatory) The mass of common people; the lowest class of populace. [from 1550s]

   Synonyms: plebs, riffraff; see also Thesaurus:commonalty

Derived terms

• rabble rouser
• rabblesome

Translations

Etymology 3

Old French roable (modern French râble), from Latin rutabulum (“a poker”).

Noun

rabble (plural rabbles)

1. An iron bar used in puddling.

Verb

rabble (third-person singular simple present rabbles, present participle rabbling, simple past and past participle rabbled)

1. (transitive) To stir with a rabble.

Derived terms

• rabbler

Further reading

• rabble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• rabble in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• rabble at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• barbel, barble