dobbin
(ˈdɒbɪn)
[the proper name Dobbin (dim. of Dob, altered forms of Robin, Rob, dim. of Robert) as a pet name. Sense 2 may be a distinct word; there are other dialectal uses.]
1. An ordinary draught or farm horse; sometimes contemptuously, an old horse, a jade.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ii. 100 Thou hast got more haire on thy chin, then Dobbin my philhorse has on his taile. 1862 Sala Accepted Addr. 229 The dappled dobbins wink lazily. 1871 Miss Mulock Fair France 5 Bits of shiny brass..jangling about their fore legs, in a fashion which British Dobbin would never submit to. |
b. attrib., as dobbin-cart, an Irish four-wheeled carriage used for travelling, and generally drawn by two horses; dobbin-wheels, the large hind wheels of a timber cart (Cheshire Gloss. 1884).
2. A small drinking-vessel.
| 1792 Gentl. Mag. LXII i. 179 A..quantity of plate..10 silver tankards, 9 cans, 14 silver dobbins. 1821 J. Marsden Sketches Early Life (ed. 3) 92 A little bread and cheese and a dobbin, or about a gill of Welsh ale. |