rabble 
a noise, Ir. ni)xtl, noise, rajntrJi, noisy, Gael. ra- 
piiir, a noisy fellow. The word may have been 
in part confused or associated witJi ramble; cf. 
dial, rabbling, winding, rambling.] I. intranx. 
To speak confusedly ; talk incoherently ; utter 
nonsense. 
II. trans. To utter confusedly or incoher- 
ently; gabble or chatter out. 
Let thy tunge serve thyn hert in skylle, 
And rable not wordes recheles owt of reson. 
MS. Cantab, tt. ii. 38, f. 24. (UattmvU.) 
Thus, father Traves, you may see my rashness to rabble 
out the Scriptures without purpose, time [in other editions 
rime}, or reason. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 23. 
[Obsolete or prov. Eng. and Scotch in both 
uses.] 
rabble' 2 (rab'l), n. and a. [Early mod. E. rable; 
< ME. rabel; cf. rabble^, t'.] I. n. 1. A tumul- 
tuous crowd of vulgar, noisy people; a con- 
fused, disorderly assemblage ; a mob. 
I saw, I say, come out of London, even unto the pres- 
ence of the prince, a great rable of mean and light persones. 
Agcham, The Scholemaster, i. 
Then the Nabob Vizier and his rabble made their appear- 
ance, and hastened to plunder the camp of the valiant 
enemies. Macaiday, Warren Hastings. 
2. Specifically, the mass of common people; 
the ignorant populace ; the mob: with the defi- 
nite article. 
The rabble now such freedom did enjoy 
As winds at sea that use it to destroy. 
Dryden, Astrsea Redux, I. 43. 
3. Any confused crowd or assemblage ; a hap- 
hazard conglomeration or aggregate, especial- 
ly of things trivial or ignoble. 
This miscreant [Mahomet]. . . instituted and published 
a sect, or rather a rabble, of abbominable preceptes and 
detestable counselles, thereby to chaunge the vertuous, 
and therewith to delight the vicious and wicked. 
Qvmara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577), p. 327. 
For the solace they may geue the readers, after such a 
rable of scholastical precepts which be tedious, these re- 
ports being of the nature of matters historicall, they are 
to be embraced. PvUenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 221. 
Flies, Butterflies, Gnats, Bees, and all the rabbles 
Of other Insects. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 5. 
=Syn. 1. Mob, etc. tieepopidace. 
II. a. Pertaining to or consisting of a rabble; 
riotous; tumultuous; disorderly ; vulgar; low. 
To gratify the barbarous party of my audience, I gave 
them a short ra&We-scene, because the mob (as they call 
them) are represented by Plutarch and Polybius with the 
same character of baseness and cowardice. 
Dryden, Cleomenes, Pi-ef. 
How could any one of English education and prattique 
swallow such a low, rabble suggestion? 
Roger North, Examen, p. 306. (Dames.) 
The victory of Beaumont proved to MacMahon that his 
only resource left was to abandon the attempt to reach 
Bazaine, and to concentrate his rabble army around the 
frontier fortress of Sedan. Lowe, Bismarck, I. 548. 
rabble 2 (rab'l), v. t. ; pret. and pp. rabbled, ppr. 
rabbling. [< rabble 2 , n.~\ To assault in a vio- 
lent and disorderly manner ; mob. [Scotch.] 
Unhappily, throughout a large part of Scotland, the 
clergy of the established church were, to use the phrase 
then common, rabbled. Maeavlay, Hist. Eng., xiii. 
The desolation of Ireland, the massacre of Glencoe, the 
abandonment of the Darien colonists, the rabbling of 
about 300 Episcopal clergymen in Scotland . . . 
Lecky, Eng. in 18th Cent., i. 
It seems but as yesterday since in the streets of Edin- 
burgh ladies were insulted and rabbled on their way to a 
medical lecture-room. 
Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XXXIX. 19. 
rabble 3 (rab'l), n. [< OF. rouble, F. rdble, an 
implement for stirring or mixing, a poker, etc., 
dial, redable, < L. rutabulum, ML. also rotabit- 
lum, a poker or shovel.] An iron bar bent at 
right angles at one end, used in the operation 
of puddling for stirring the melted iron, so as 
to allow it to be more fully exposed to the ac- 
tion of the air and the lining of the furnace. 
rabble 3 (rab'l), v. t.: pret. and pp. rabbled, ppr. 
rabbling. [< rabble*, n."] To stir and skim with 
a rabble or puddling-tool, as melted iron in a 
furnace. 
rabble-fish (rab'1-fish), . Fish generally re- 
jected for market, as the dogfishes, rays, gur- 
nards, scad, and wrasses. [West of Eng.] 
rabblement 1 (rab'1-ment), n. [< rabble 1 + 
-ment.~] Idle, silly talk; babblement. Halliwell. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
rabblement 2 ! (rab'1-ment), n. [Formerly also 
rablement; < rabble^ + " -ment.'] 1. Atumultu- 
ous crowd or assemblage ; a disorderly rout ; a 
rabble. 
The first troupe was a monstrous rablement 
Of fowle misshapen wightes. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. xi. 8. 
4025 
The roUfemmf hooted, ami chipped (heir chopped hands. 
Shall., J. C., 1. 2. 24S. 
I saw . . . giants anil dwarfs, 
Clowns, conjurors, posture-masters, harlequins, 
Amid the uproar of the rabblfment, 
Perform their feats. Wordsworth, Prelude, vii. 
2. Refuse ; dregs. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
rabbler (rab'ler), n. One who works with or 
usi-s a rabble, especially in the operation of 
puddling, 
rabbling (rab'ling), a. Same as rambling. See 
mm/tie. [Prov. Eng.] 
rabboni(ra-bo'ni), H. [Heb. : seeraftfti.] Liter- 
ally, 'my great master': a title of honor among 
the Jews; specifically, the highest title given 
to doctors or expounders of the law. It was 
publicly given to only seven persons of great 
eminence, all of the school of Hillel. 
She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which 
is to say, Master [i. e., Teacher]. John xx. 10. 
rabd, rabdoid, etc. See rhabd, etc. 
rabel, . Same as rebec. 
Rabelaisian (rab-e-la'zi-an), a. [< F. rabelai- 
ni<'ii, < lidbtilais (see def.)."] Of or pertainingto 
Francois Rabelais (about 1490-1553), a French 
priest, author of " Gargantua and Pantagruel" ; 
resembling or suggestive of Rabelais and the 
characteristics of his thought and style. Com- 
pare Pantagruelism. 
Gleams of the truest poetical sensibility alternate in him 
[John Skelton] with an almost brutal coarseness. He was 
truly Rabelaisian before Rabelais. 
Lowell, N. A. Rev., CXX. 340. 
rabetH, An obsolete spelling of rabbit 1 . 
rabet 2 t, n. An obsolete spelling of rabbet. 
rabiH, An obsolete spelling of rabbi. 
rabi 2 (rab'i), n. [Also written rubbee; < Hind. 
rnbi, the spring, the crop then gathered.] The 
great grain-crop of Hindustan, consisting of 
wheat, barley, oats, and millet. It is the last of 
the three crops, being laid down in August and September, 
partly on land which has lain fallow and partly on land 
which has been cleared of the bhadoee or earliest crop. 
It furnishes about flve sixteenths of the food-supply in a 
normal year. 
rabiate (ra'bi-at), a. [< ML. rabiatus, pp. of 
rabiare, go mad, rave, rage, < L. rabies, mad- 
ness : see rabies. Cf. rage, rare 1 .} Rabid; mad- 
dened. 
Ah ! ye Jewes, worse than dogges rabiate. 
Lamentation of Mary Magdalen. 
rabiator (ra'bi-a-tor), . [< ML. rabiator, a 
furious man, < rabiare, rave, go mad : see rabi- 
ate. The Sc. rubiature, a robber, bully, It. ru- 
batore, a robber, < ML. *rubator, does not seem 
to be connected.] A furious animal or person ; 
a violent, greedy person. [Scotch.] 
rabic (rab'ik), o. [< rabi(es) + -ic.] Of or per- 
taining to rabies ; affected or caused by rabies. 
Of eight nnvacciuated dogs, six succumbed to the in- 
travenous inoculation of rabic matter. 
Tundall, Int. to Lady C. Hamilton's tr. of Life of Pasteur, 
[p. 40. 
In the interval it [a dog] manifests ratrie symptoms. 
Medical News, XLVIII. 223. 
rabid (rab'id), a. [= OF. rabi, rabit = Sp. rd- 
bido = Pg. It. rabido, < L. rabidus, mad, furious, 
< rabere, be mad, rage : see rabies, and cf . rage, 
.] 1. Furious; raging; mad. 
With rabid hunger feed upon your kind. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., xv. 258. 
Like rabid snakes that sting some gentle child 
Who brings them food. Shelley, Revolt of Islam, v. 7. 
Sleep is the sure antidote of insanity, the cure of idiocy. 
. . . without whose potent anodynes every creature would 
run rabid. A. B. Aleott, Table-Talk, p. 71. 
2. Specifically (a) Affected with rabies or hy- 
drophobia, as a dog, wolf, horse, or man ; hy- 
drophobic ; mad. (6) Pertaining to rabies : as, 
rabid virus. 3. Excessively or foolishly in- 
tense; rampant: as, a rabid Tory ; a rabid tee- 
totaler. 
In the rabid desire to say something easily, I scarcely 
knew what I uttered at aU. Foe, Tales, I. 289. 
rabidity (ra-bid'i-ti), n. [< ML. rabidita(t-)s, 
rabidness,^ L. rabidus, rabid: see rabid.] The 
state of being rabid; rabidness; specifically, ra- 
bies. [Rare.] 
Although the term hydrophobia has been generally 
applied to this terrible disease, I have preferred that of 
rabies, or rabidity, as being more characteristic of the chief 
phenomena manifested by it both in man and the lower 
animals. Copland, Diet. Pract. Med., Rabies, 2. 
I fear that he [Macaulay] is one of those who. like the 
individual whom he has most studied, will "give up to 
party what was meant for mankind." At any rate, he must 
get rid of his rabidity. He writes now on all subjects as 
if he certainly intended to be a renegade. 
Disraeli, Young Duke, v. 6. 
rabidly (rab'id-li), adv. [< rabid + -ly*.] In 
a rabid manner; madly; furiously. 
raccourcy 
rabidness (rab'i<l-ncs), . |< rubiil + ->ii'*n.\ 
The state of being rabid; furiousness; ma<K 
lirss. 
rabies (rii'bi-ez), ii. [< L. rabies, rage, mad- 
ness, fury: see nii/r, .] An extremely fatal 
infectious disease of man and many other ani- 
mals, with predominant nervous symptoms. 
In man (where it is called hydrophobia) the period of in- 
cubation lasts In a majority of cases from three to six 
months or more. Cases where it is said to have lasted 
several years are ill sustained. The outbreak begins with 
malaise, anorexia, headache, and slight difficulty in swal- 
lowing. After one or two days of these prodromal symp- 
toms the stage of tonic spasms begins, most marked at 
first in the pharyngeal muscles and in the attempt to swal- 
low, especially liquids, but proceeding to involve the 
respiratory muscles and others of the trunk and those of 
the extremities. These convulsions are accompanied by 
extreme anxiety and oppression, and may be elicited by 
any stimulus, but especially by attempts to drink or by the 
sound or sight of liquids. They may last from a few min- 
utes to half an hour. The pulse-rate increases, the tem- 
perature is more or less raised, and there may be decided 
delirium. After from one to three days the period of 
paralysis succeeds, followed shortly by death. The mor- 
tality after the development of the malady is nearly 100 
per cent. The disease is communicated to man by inocu- 
lation from a rabid animal, usually by a dog-bite. The 
maximum numberof inoculations occur in the early spring 
or winter, the minimum in late summer or fall. The sa- 
liva of rabid dogs seems to be somewhat rabigenic two or 
three days before the animal shows any evident signs of 
ill-health. Of persons bitten by rabid animals onlya frac- 
tion develop rabies, estimated at from 16 per cent, for light 
wounds through the clothing up to 80 per cent, for wounds 
of exposed parts. The records of Pasteur's laboratories 
show a reduction to less than 1 per cent, when such 
pel-sons are treated by his method. See Pasteuriem. 
rabietic (ra-bi-et'ik), . [Irreg. < rabies + -et 
+ -ic.~\ Pertaining or relating to rabies ; of the 
nature of or resembling rabies. 
To M. Grancher was most justly accorded the very 
agreeable task of expounding in a few simple and un- 
adorned sentences the results of the anti-roWetic treat- 
ment of M. Pasteur. Nature, XXXIX. 73. 
rabific (ra-bif 'ik), a. [< L. rabies, madness, + 
facere, make (see -fic}.~] Communicating ra- 
bies or canine madness; capable of causing 
hydrophobia. 
Rabific virus is obtained from a rabbit which has died 
after inoculation by trepanning. Encyc. Brit., XX. 202. 
rabigenic (rab-i-jen'ik), a. [< L. rabies, mad- 
ness, + gignere, genere, produce, \f "gen, bear, 
produce : see -gen."] Same as rabific. 
rabinett (rab'i-net), n. [Origin obscure.] A 
small piece of ordnance formerly in use, weigh- 
ing about 300 pounds, and carrying a ball about 
1-J inches in diameter. 
rabioust (ra'bi-us), a. [< OF. ralrieux = Sp. 
rabioso = Pg. raivoso = It. rabbioso, < L. rabi- 
osus, full of rage, raging, < rabies, rage, fury : 
see rabies and rage.} Wild; raging; fierce. 
Ethelred languishing in minde and body, Edmond his 
sonne, surnamed Ironside (to oppose youth to youth), was 
imployed against thisraWous inuador. 
Daniel, Hist. Eng., p. 15. (Dames.) 
rabitet, [ME., also rabett, rabyghtc, war- 
horse, < Icel. rdbitr, an Arabian steed (cf . Icel. 
rdbitar, Arabs), = MHG. rdvit, rant, a war- 
horse, (. OF. arabit, arrabi, an Arabian horse, < 
Arabe, Arab : see Arab.] A war-horse. 
Syr Gye bestrode a rabyghte, 
That was moche and lyghte. 
JfS. Cantab. Ff. ii. 38, f. 121. (BattiweU.) 
rabonet, [= Sp. rdbano = Pg. rabano, rabao, 
< L. raphanus, a radish : see Sapnanus.'] A rad- 
ish. Gerarde, Herball. 
rabot (rab'ot), n. [< F. robot: see rabbet.'} A 
hard-wood rubber used in rubbing marble to 
prepare it for polishing. E. H. Knight. 
raca (ra'ka), a. [Formerly also raclta; LL. 
raca, < Gr. jjana, < Chal. rekd, an insulting 
epithet of doubtful meaning, connected per- 
haps with raq, spit, spit upon (Ar. riq), or 
with riqd, empty, valueless (Ar. raiq, vain, 
futile).] Worthless; naught: a transliterated 
word occurring in Mat. v. 22, common among 
the Jews in Christ's time as an expression of 
contempt. 
raccahout (rak'a-hot), n. [< F. racahout, a cor- 
ruption of Ar. raqaut, rdqoiit, orrdqaout, a nour- 
ishing starch with analeptic properties. But 
this Ar. word may be the F. ragoAt, OF. ragoust, 
imported into the East during the Crusades: see 
ragout.'] A starch or meal prepared from the 
edible acorns of the belote oak, Quercus Ballo- 
ta, sometimes recommended as a food for inva- 
lids. Mixed with sugar and aromatics, it is used by the 
Arabs as a substitute for chocolate. (Encyc. Diet.) The 
so-called racahout de Arabes, sold in France, is a mixture 
made from edible acoms, salep, chocolate, potato-starch, 
rice-flour, vanilla, and sugar. Larou&e. 
raccoon, See racoon. 
raccourcy (ra-kor'si), . [< OF. raccoitrci, pp. 
of raccourcir, shorten, cut off, < re-, again, + ac- 
