rabble

C2 · Proficiency Uncountable noun Formal · Literary

n. a rude way to talk about ordinary people, suggesting they are lower class or unimportant.

n. a pejorative term for the common people or the lowest classes of the populace.

“The arrogant prince refused to speak to the rabble waiting in the square.”

“In his memoirs, the statesman dismissively referred to the electorate as a fickle rabble easily swayed by populist rhetoric.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Technology Technical

n. an iron bar used to stir melted metal in a furnace.

n. an iron tool or scraper used for stirring or skimming molten metal during the puddling process.

“The worker used a long iron rabble to stir the liquid iron in the hot furnace.”

“The efficiency of the furnace was maintained by the skilled use of a rabble to remove impurities from the surface of the molten charge.”

C2 · Proficiency Technology Technical

v. to stir melted metal using a special iron tool.

v. to stir or skim molten metal using a rabble.

“The blacksmith had to rabble the metal carefully to ensure it was pure.”

“The process required the operator to rabble the bath of molten steel at regular intervals to facilitate the oxidation of carbon.”

C2 · Proficiency Archaic · Dialect

v. to talk in a way that is confused or makes no sense.

v. to speak in a confused, incoherent, or nonsensical manner.

“The old man began to rabble about things that happened fifty years ago.”

“Disoriented by the fever, the patient began to rabble incoherently, his words forming a meaningless string of syllables.”