▪ I. stubble, n.
(ˈstʌb(ə)l)
Forms: α. 3–7 stuble, 4 stubil(l, 4, 6 stubbil(l, 4–5 stobil(l, -yl(l, stobul(l, 4–6 stob(b)le, 4–7 stubbel(l, 5 -ull, -yll(e, 5–6 stubel(l, 4, 6– stubble; Sc. 6 stibill, stible, 8, 9 stibble. β. 3 stouple, 5 stopple.
[a. OF. stuble, estuble, esteuble (also esteule etc., see Godefr.; mod.F. dial. éteuble, étouble, éteule), = Pr. estobla, It. stoppia:—popular L. *stupla = late L. stupula, class. L. stipula: see stipula.
The popular L. *stupla was adopted in continental WGer.: hence OHG. stupfala (MHG., mod.G. dial. stupfel), (M)LG. stoppel (whence mod.G. stoppel fem.), MDu. stoppele fem. (mod.Du. stoppel masc.). It is possible that the word may have coalesced with a native word of similar meaning from the root of stub n.]
1. Each of the stumps or lower ends of grain-stalks left in the ground after reaping. Now only in pl.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4578 He smot of is heued as liȝtliche as it were a scouple [v.rr. a stouple, a lute stouple]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. vi. (1495) 393 Pestylence wastyth and dystroyeth stobles. 1569 G. B. in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 388 In euerie place are stubbles and prickes, That stayes the feeble feete. 1577 Extracts Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876) 63 That nane pull stibillis furtht of ony landis about the toun. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 319 Its Work is to plough up Stubbles, particularly in wet Weather. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 58 The gay Pack In the rough bristly Stubbles range unblam'd. 1836 Emerson Nat. iii. Wks. (Bohn) II. 146 Every withered stem and stubble rimed with frost. 1884 H. Seebohm Hist. Brit. Birds II. 455 At this season the Partridge delights to ‘jug’ in the grass-fields, repairing to the turnips and the stubbles to feed. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 817 The crops of warts which attack the gums and palates of sheep feeding upon stubbles. |
2. collect. sing. a. The stumps or lower parts of the stalks of wheat or other grain left in the ground by the sickle or reaping-machine.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xlix. 4 Þan may þe cafe drede, and stubil. 1388 Wyclif Gen. xli. 23 And othere seuene..camen forth of the stobil. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clvii. (1495) 707 Stipula stobble is properly that strawe wyth leues and hosen that is lefte in the felde after that repers haue repen the corn with hokys and gadred it home. 1425 in Rep. MSS. Ld. Middleton (1911) 108 If any man tye his horse in any stubbull. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. (1882) 35 In somme places they wyll shere theyr cornes hyghe, to the entente to mowe theyr stubble, eyther to thacke or to bren. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xiv. 304 But I suppose, that you..Know by the stubble, what the Corne hath bene. 1720 Swift Progr. Poetry 1 The Farmer's Goose, who in the Stubble, Has fed without Restraint, or Trouble. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 166 The stubble, or the roots, which the plough pushes before it, are sometimes intangled betwixt the coulter and sheath. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xli, The sight of those fields of stubble and turnips, now his own, gave him many secret joys. 1887 Spectator 13 Aug. 1075 Carefully destroying the stubble of infested wheat and barley. |
b. In various
fig. or allusive contexts.
Often with allusion to 1
Cor. iii. 12.
| a 1591 H. Smith 2nd Serm. Song Simeon (1602) D 5, But sinners are stubble, and their sentence is, Burne them. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 274 This..suggested..Will be his fire To kindle their dry Stubble. 1624 Bedell Lett. vii. 110 The stubble and errors of the Doctors. 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. vii. 128 This argument..is wittily spunne out by..S{supr} Humfry Gilbert, whose ability seemes to haue made a haruest out of the stubble. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 254 No merit now the dear Nonjuror claims, Moliere's old stubble in a moment flames. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VII. 5 Depend upon it, Mr. Belford..that one day you will be convinced, that what you call friendship, is chaff and stubble. 1773 Burke Sp. on Bill for Relief of Dissenters Wks. X. 23 Fortunately her [the Church of England's] walls, bulwarks, and bastions, are constructed of other materials than of stubble and straw. 1846 J. C. Hare Mission Comf. (1850) 156 The very stubble of our old sins may run into our eyes and blind us. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 731 So ran the tale like fire about the court, Fire in dry stubble a nine-days' wonder flared. |
c. transf. A rough surface or short growth likened to the ‘stubble’ of grain,
esp. the short bristly growth on a man's unshaven face.
| a 1596 Sir T. More iv. iii. 56 Thou was wunt to blame My kissing when my beard was in the stubble. a 1660 Prince d'Amour etc. 128 The grim stubble eke On the Judges cheek. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop iii, His mouth and chin [were] bristly with the stubble of a coarse hard beard. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life viii. ii. (1876) 291 On his chin, a black stubble of two days growth. |
d. In sugar-planting, the sugar-cane in the field after the first year.
| 1846 De Bow's Commerc. Rev. II. 324 Fortunately the [sugar] cane is not an annual plant. Each year fresh shoots spring from the stubble which remains after cutting the crop. |
3. The straw of grain-stalks, etc. gathered after the crop has been harvested.
| 1382 Wyclif Josh. ii. 6 She made the men to stye vp into the soler of hir hows, and couerde hem with stuble of flaxe, that was there. 1483 Caxton Golden Leg. 56/2 In no wyse gyue no more chaf to the peple for to make lome and claye but late them goo and gadre stopple. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. 41 Beeyng bounden to a stake, with smoke made of greene stickes and wette stubbell, to be smouldred to death. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxxiii. vii, Torment them, Lord, as tossed balls; As stubble scatt'red in the aire. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 133 Where they have lesse store of wood within land there they burne straw, furres, and other kinds of stubble. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 91 One night as I lay on my bed of stubble. 1785 Burns To a Mouse vi, That wee-bit heap o' leaves an' stibble, Has cost thee monie a weary nibble. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 179 The walls..are formed of a mixture of stubble and clay. |
4. A field that has been reaped, and not yet ploughed again; a stubble-field. Chiefly in
pl.| 1792 A. Young Trav. France 435 Sheep..are in most of the provinces fed upon straw, and what they can pick up on wastes and stubbles. 1859 Jephson Brittany iv. 41 The valleys..were of the deepest and richest green, which contrasted deliciously with the yellow stubbles and cornfields. 1908 Outlook 29 Aug. 279/1 The costly moors in the Highlands..must always be the privileged possession of the few, but the stubbles in September are available to the multitude. |
5. attrib. and
Comb.,
esp. attributive with the senses ‘consisting of or covered with stubble’ as
stubble-beard (so
stubble-bearded adj.),
stubble-field,
stubble-land, etc., ‘grown on the stubble’ as
stubble-clover,
stubble-crop,
stubble-turnip, etc., ‘used on the stubble’ as
stubble-plough,
stubble-rake, etc.; objective, as
stubble-burner,
stubble-burning,
stubble-loving adj.; instrumental, as
stubble-covered adj.;
stubble-butter Sc., butter made of the milk of cows fed on the stubble;
stubble-fed a., of poultry: fed on the stubble left in a reaped field; hence
stubble-feeding;
stubble-fire, fire made of stubble and so lasting but a moment;
stubble-grown a. = stubble-covered adj. above;
stubble-jumper slang (chiefly
Canad.), a prairie farmer (see also
quot. 1946);
stubble-quail, a brown, black, and white quail,
Coturnix pectoralis, native to southern Australia;
stubble-rig Sc., (
a) a stubble-field; (
b) the reaper who takes the lead;
stubble-time, the time just after harvest;
stubble-turner (see
quot. 1875). Also
stubble-goose.
| 1714 E. Ward Field-Spy 26 With *Stubble-Beard, about a Fortnight's growth. |
| 1620 Melton Astrolog. 36 A *stubble-bearded-Barister. |
| 1980 Sunday Times 24 Aug. 1/7 Can *stubble-burners be controlled? |
| 1973 Times 24 Aug. 2/5 The National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers yesterday called for regulations to control *stubble burning. 1976 A. Price War Game i. ii. 48 There hadn't been so much stubble-burning this year, he noted approvingly. |
| 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 167 The best *stibble butter taks langest o' churnin'. 1888 Glasgow Even. Times 15 Oct. 2/5 advt., Stubble butter. |
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 329 Fatting-sheep may be suffered to feed freely on the *stubble-clover. |
| 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) ii. 61 Stephen often glanced with mistrust at his trainer's flabby *stubblecovered face. |
| 1881 Chicago Times 11 June, The sugar districts in this state [i.e. Louisiana] report to the Planters' association..: *Stubble crop good. |
| 1882 W. D. Hay Brighter Britain! I. 224 Cricket-fed turkey would shame any *stubble-fed bird altogether. 1928 Daily Express 6 Oct. 4/6 These stubble-fed geese are the best of all for eating. |
| 1960 G. E. Evans Horse in Furrow xii. 172 There were two kinds of shacking; Lammas shack..and Michaelmas shack, *stubble-feeding after the corn harvest. |
| 1614 Markham Cheap & Good Husb. ii. xvi. 124 After they [the geese] haue in the *stubble fields, and during the time of haruest got into good flesh. 1786 Burns To Mountain Daisy iv, But thou..Adorns the histie stibble-field, Unseen, alane. 1835 Browning Paracelsus i. 42 Which, look through near, this way, and it appears A stubble-field or a cane-brake. |
| a 1618 Sylvester Cup Consol. 34 Whose brittle glosse and glory lasts and shines As *Stubble-Fire, and Dust before the Windes. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 159 In vain he burns, like fainty Stubble Fires. |
| 1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 176 No plough will choke in *stubble ground, if the crop is cut in a proper manner. |
| 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) v. 227 Good evening, gentlemen, said the *stubblegrown monkeyish face. |
| 1946 California Folklore Q. Apr. 164 ‘Top hands’, ‘sodbusters’, ‘hay stopers’, ‘*stubble jumpers’,..denote farmers who have turned to mining, and these terms are always opprobrious. 1961 Sun (Vancouver) 4 July 1/1 The prairie farmer, to those of us who don't know him well, is a stock comic character. Clod-hopper, we call him, and stubble-jumper. 1973 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 19 Aug. 12/1 An authentic stubble-jumper from the prairies was looked upon as being at the very bottom rung of the social and employment ladder. |
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 35 Like a *stubble Land at Haruest home. |
| 1598 Chapman Hero & Leander iv. 98 Who did of hollow bulrushes combine Snares for the *stubble-louing Grashopper. |
| 1815 Scott Field of Waterloo iv, The bare extent of *stubble-plain Seems lately lighten'd of its grain. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Stubble-plow. |
| 1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. V. plate 88 The name of *Stubble Quail has been given to it by the colonists of Van Diemen's Land, from the great numbers that visit the fields after the harvest is over. 1921 Matthews & Iredale Man. Birds Austral. I. 224 Stubble-quail... Head, neck, entire back and scapulars rufous-brown and black streaked with white. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 316/1 The stubble-quail, which is closely allied to the quail of Europe, is confined to southern Australia and Tasmania. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 801 The stubble..being..raked together by means of a large horse *stubble-rake. |
| 1785 Burns Halloween xvi, Our *Stibble-rig was Rab M'Graen. ? 1780 in Burns's Wks. (Globe) 164/2 The stibble rig is easy plough'd, The fallow land is free. |
| 1713 C'tess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 77 A lowly Cottage..Fenc'd by a *Stubble-roof, from Rain and Heat. |
| 1577 B. Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. i. 11 b, Husbandry necessaries..whereof the smaller sort be these..*Stubble Sithes. |
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans d ij, Ther be in a *stobull tyme Sordes of mailardes in the felde. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Stubble-turner, an attachment to a plow to turn over stubble and trash before the principal plow reaches it. |
| 1819 Rees' Cycl. XXXII. 3 K 1/1 By..the use of *stubble turnips when necessary, the ewe and lamb-stock may be well supported through the severity of the season. |
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xxviii, The system of *stubble-turniping after wheat has proved very successful. |
| 1549 Latimer 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 29 They walk not directely and playnly, but delite in balkes, and *stubble way. |
▪ II. † ˈstubble, a. Obs. Also 4
stubul,
-el, 5
stubill,
stubbill.
[Prob. connected with stub n. ? Cf. stubborn a.] a. ? Clumsy, awkward.
b. ? Stoutly-built.
stubble boy:
cf. stubbed boy,
stubbed ppl. a. 2 b.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23910 For-sak þou noght his stubul werc, For þof it rude and stubel be, It es in worscip wroght o þe. c 1480 Henryson Two Mice 92 In stubbill array throw gres and corne And vnder buskis preuilie culd thay creip. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 522 It is lyke..That sic ane stubill husband an wald stryke stoutly. 1562 Legh Armorie Pref. ¶iv, The third sort..are..very stubble curres, & be neither doers, sufferers, or wel speakers of honours tokens. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Andria iv. v. 86 Grandiusculus hinc profectus est. He was a good stubble boy: a pretie bauckt ladde and of a good stature when he went from hence. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 133 Wee give usually 20 s. to a good stubble boy for drivinge of the oxe plough. |
Hence
† ˈstubbleness.
| 1530 Palsgr. 277/2 Stubblenesse or sturdynesse, lourdesse. |
▪ III. stubble, v. (
ˈstʌb(ə)l)
[f. stubble n.] 1. trans. To clear (land) of stubble. Also to remove stubble from (one's face).
| 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W.) ii. (1495) 256 b/1 How shall it be to me possyble to stubble & make clene this pyece of londe here. 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney III. 128 He began stubbling his chin, as before. |
b. To trample
down into stubble.
| 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 243 The grass is stubbled down into paths by hippos. |
2. Cant.
stubble it! stubble your whids! hold your tongue!
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Stubble-it. 1827 Lytton Pelham lxxxii, Stubble it, you ben. 1830 ― P. Clifford xvi, Stubble your whids, You wants to trick I! |
Hence
ˈstubbling vbl. n.| 1872 Daily News 25 Sept., There is gleaning and stubbling, and then the two harvests of hay and corn. |