rab·ble¹ (răb'əl)
n.

1. A tumultuous crowd; a mob.
2. The lowest or coarsest class of people. Often used with the.
3. 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).

[Middle English.]

rab·ble² (răb'əl)
n.

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

tr.v., -bled, -bling, -bles.
To stir or skim (molten iron) with an iron bar.

[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.]

rabbler rab'bler n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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