different between hobbler vs nobbler

English

Etymology

Old English also hobeler, Old French hobelier, Latin hobellarius. See hobby (“a horse”).

Noun

hobbler (plural hobblers)

1. One who hobbles.
   • 2005, Maureen Rylance, The Spur on the Plate

     The horse was one of the finest I had seen, not a hobbler. This was a far more delicate creature.

2. (Britain, historical) One who by his tenure was to maintain a horse for military service; a kind of light-horseman in the Middle Ages who was mounted on a hobby.
   • 1954, James Francis Lydon, The hobelar: An Irish contribution to medieval warfare, Irish Sword, II, v, pp. 12–16.

     • However superior the Norman knight might be upon the field of battle, the bogs and woods of Ireland gave little opportunity for the mail-clad charge. Thus there evolved in Ireland, as a habitual part of every Anglo-Norman force, a type of light horseman, which came to be known as the hobelar.

   • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England

     no man shall be constrained to find men at arms, hobblers, nor archers, other than those who hold by such service

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir J. Davies to this entry?)

3. An unlicensed pilot, casual dock labourer, etc.
4. A man who tows a canal boat with a rope.

English

Pronunciation

Noun

nobbler (plural nobblers)

1. (Australia, obsolete) A serving of beer or spirits.
   • 1855, Raffaello Carboni, The Eureka Stockade, Gutenberg eBook #3546,

     Carl Wiesenhavern, a man of noble character, and, therefore a man who hates knavery, and has no fear of a knave, answered with his peculiar German coolness, "Here I am, what do you want?"

     "Nobblers round," was the eager reply.

     "If that's what you want," replied Wiesenhavern, "you shall have it with pleasure."

     "We got no money."

     "I did not ask for any: understand me well, though;" pointing at each of them with the forefinger of his clenched right hand, "you will have a nobbler a-piece, and no more: afterwards you will go your way. Are you satisfied with my conditions?"

   • 1874, [John Brady], The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser (Heathcote, Vic. : 1863 - 1918) Thursday 24 December 1874 Coroner's Inquest [1] - 12-year-old witness to road accident death of his father,

     ‘My father only had two nobblers at Dwyer's place that morning.’

   • 1895, Guy Boothby, A Bid for Fortune, ReadHowYouWant, 2008 EasyRead Comfort Edition, page 266,

     ‘A nobbler o? rum,’ says I. Then he orders a nobbler of rum for me and a nobbler of whisky for ?imself.

   • 1998, Bryce Courtenay, Tommo and Hawk, 2006, unnumbered page,

     ‘Fer goodness? sake, Doreen! Give the gent a nobbler of brandy and stop making trouble.’ It?s the little weasel bloke what speaks.

     ‘Much obliged,’ I says to him. ‘Nobbler, is it?’ Doreen turns on her heel and she?s about to vanish into the main bar when I shouts after her, ‘Nobbler of Cape, miss!’

   • 2010, Gerard Benjamin, Gloria Grant (editors), Tom Hurstbourne or A Squatter?s Life, page 81,

     This done, he waves his hat and declares his nag can lick anything on the ground—for nobblers round.

2. (Britain, obsolete) A thimbleman's or cardsharp's accomplice or shill, who poses as a player of the game to suggest that it is easy to win.

Derived terms

• nobblerize