| 释义 |
▪ I. nobbler1|ˈnɒblə(r)|
[f. nobble v. + -er1.]
1. One who nobbles horses.
1854G. J. Whyte-Melville General Bounce vii, Nobblers and noblemen—grooms and gentlemen—..apparently all layers and no takers. 1865Daily Tel. 18 Apr. 3 It is to be hoped that the son of Orlando will speedily have the pen put through his name, and thereby mar the ‘little game’ of the ‘nobblers’. 1881World 6 July 15/1 It is dangerous to hastily append the word ‘nobbler’ to any man.
2. (See quot.)
1876Hindley Cheap Jack 261 A lot of people called ‘Nobblers’, who used to work the ‘thimble and pea rig’ and go ‘buzzing’, that is, picking pockets.
Add:[1.] b. One who secures the support of jurors, etc. by bribery or intimidation.
1982Times 2 Oct. 3/2 Judge Peter Slot ordered a 48-strong police guard on the jury..to deter would-be ‘nobblers’ because of recent approaches to jurors in other cases. 1987Independent 2 July 3/5 Nobblers were paid to intimidate jury members or witnesses in major court cases involving organised crime gangs.
▪ II. nobbler2 Chiefly Austral. and N.Z.|ˈnɒblə(r)|
[Of obscure origin.]
A small quantity of liquor. Also, a small glass or container for liquor.
1852‘G. F. P.’ Gold Pen & Pencil Sk. xiv. (Morris), The summit gained, he pulls up at the Valley, To drain a fare⁓well nobbler to his Sally. 1853J. Sherer Gold-Finder of Australia 177, I have only had two noblers (as they are called) since I came to the place, and paid 1s. 6d. per nobler. 1859Cornwallis New World I. 300 People would drink nobbler after nobbler of spirits all day long. 1859F. Fowler Southern Lights & Shadows 52 (Morris), To pay for liquor for another is to ‘stand’ or to ‘shout’... The measure is called a ‘nobbler’ or a ‘break⁓down’. 1862Polehampton Kangaroo Land 95 One fellow sold execrable rum at two shillings a nobbler, i.e. half a wine glass. 1873Trollope Austral. & N.Z. II. xi. 201 A nobbler is the proper colonial phrase for a drink at a public-house. 1885R. C. Praed Austral. Life 103 Having accepted at my hands the customary ‘nobbler’, he would sit down for half-an-hour, talking. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms (1890) 16 Every one wanted to be thought a man,..so we used to make a point of drinking our nobbler. 1908D. Ferguson Bush Life in Austral. & N.Z. (ed. 4) xxxv. 274 Nor did their thirst for ardent spirits appear to be in the least moderated by the price of the beverages..the good old colonial charge of one shilling per ‘nobbler’. 1936M. Franklin All that Swagger xix. 181, I took a nobbler of your poisoned grog. 1949D. M. Davin Roads from Home 216 He..was pouring it into two nobblers he had fished out of the pocket. 1957D. Niland Call me when Cross turns Over ii. 30 He poured himself nobbler after nobbler and drank them straight. 1971Walkabout (Austral.) Nov. 73/1 Whisky costs around 300 rupiahs, or some 75 cents, for a generous nobbler.
▪ III. ˈnobbler3 rare.
[f. dial. nobble to strike on the head (f. nob n.1 1) + -er1.]
a. A blow on the head (Ogilvie 1882).
b. A short stick used for killing fish (cf. nobby n. 1).
1888Sir H. Pottinger in Fortn. Rev. May 630 His final struggles are shortly ended with a single tap of the ‘nobbler’.
▪ IV. nobbler
variant of knobbler. |