1859 P. Beaton tr. L. A. Frankl Jews in East I. x. 347 On the road, a Jew on horseback had joined us; Reb Jizchak, who, when a child, had wandered with his parents from Hungary to Jerusalem.

1892 I. Zangwill Children of Ghetto I. 147 ‘Well, how goes it, Reb Moshé?’ said Reb Shemuel.., noticing Moses loitering. He called him ‘Reb’ out of courtesy and in acknowledgement of his piety. The real ‘Reb’ was a fine figure of a man.

1932 L. Golding Magnolia St. i. v. 84 The beard of Reb Berel, the beadle, was in attendance.

1975 Publishers Weekly 3 Feb. 75/3 A ragged stranger stands by the door of the synagogue... The boy whispers to the woman that the stranger, reb Naftoli, is a badchen, a merrymaker, who speaks in rhymes.

1991 A. M. Dershowitz Chutzpah i. 21 I never met Reb Zecharia, as everyone called him. (He was not a rabbi; the title Reb was the Yiddish equivalent of Sir.)

1861 W. J. Crossley Diary Aug. in Extracts from my Diary (1903) 16 Now we are allowed to send letters home, but have to be very careful as to quality and quantity, for Mr. Reb has the first perusal and will throw them in the waste basket if a sentence or even a word is not to his liking.

1862 Let. 1 June in L. M. Post Soldiers' Lett. (1865) ii. xxxii. 90 As soon as the rebs saw our red breeches (the Zouaves) coming through the woods they skedaddled.

1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous iii. 62 Earnin' my bread on the deep waters, an' dodgin' Reb privateers.

1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin v. 73 They wanted me to order the rebs. to shove off.

1938 J. W. Daniels Southerner discovers South xxxv. 346 The boy..insisted in the hospital that he was the best alligator catcher on the coast of Georgia. Perhaps he was. Maybe still one Reb can beat ten Yankees.

1963 Amer. Speech 38 45 Reb, a Southern driver or a Southern trucking firm.

2003 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (Nexis) 28 Mar. 7 The foundation..would like to send the rebs and their military exhibits packing so that Memorial Hall could serve..as part of the arts museum complex.