nobble
verb /ˈnɒbl/
/ˈnɑːbl/
(British English, informal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they nobble | /ˈnɒbl/ /ˈnɑːbl/ |
| he / she / it nobbles | /ˈnɒblz/ /ˈnɑːblz/ |
| past simple nobbled | /ˈnɒbld/ /ˈnɑːbld/ |
| past participle nobbled | /ˈnɒbld/ /ˈnɑːbld/ |
| -ing form nobbling | /ˈnɒblɪŋ/ /ˈnɑːblɪŋ/ |
- nobble something to prevent a horse from winning a race, for example by giving it drugs
- The horse was nobbled by a doping gang.
- nobble somebody to persuade somebody to do what you want, especially illegally, by offering them money
- his attempts to nobble the jury
- nobble somebody to prevent somebody from achieving what they want synonym thwart
- nobble somebody to catch somebody or get their attention, especially when they are unwilling
- He was nobbled by the press who wanted details of the affair.
Word Originmid 19th cent.: probably a variant of dialect knobble, knubble ‘knock, strike with the knuckles’.