▪ I. slubber, n.1 dial.
(ˈslʌbə(r))
[Cf. slub n.1 and slobber n.]
Mire, mud; ooze, slime.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 76/42 Slubber, limus. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 365 Slub, Slubber, mire, mud, the thick puddle on roads. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Slubber, any gelatinous substance. 1890 Hartley Clock Alm. 29 (E.D.D.), He mud as weel ha' tried to climb up a hill side o' slubber. |
▪ II. slubber, n.2
(ˈslʌbə(r))
[f. slub v.2]
1. One who manipulates a slubbing-machine.
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 8 Slubbing is a handicraft operation, depending on the skill of the slubber. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 552/1 The workman or ‘slubber’..elongates the ‘carding’ into ‘slubbing’. 1891 Leeds Mercury 14 Dec. 2/4 If he wanted to borrow, he would apply to his weavers and not his slubbers. |
2. A slubbing-machine.
| 1897 Traill's Social Eng. VI. 73 In the preparing frames, known as slubbers or rovers, the bobbins were necessarily large and weighty. |
▪ III. slubber, v. Now chiefly dial.
(ˈslʌbə(r))
Also 6 sloubber.
[Probably of Du. or LG. origin: cf. MDu. overslubberen to wade through mud, LG. slubbern (hence Da. slubre), G. schlubbern, schluppern to gobble, to scamp in working, etc.]
1. a. trans. To stain, smear, daub, soil.
| 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Sloubberde with wepyng, esplouré. Ibid. 722/1 Fye, howe you have slubbred your geare for one dayes wearyng. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1663) 182 They were..so slubbered and darkned with a black colour, that they became unprofitable for publick sight. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 75 That face that is slubbred & starched with so many ointments & drugs. 1639 Horn & Rob. Gate Lang. Unl. lxviii. §739 Let him not slubber (soile) or slurry his books, but use them cleanlily. 1682 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 55 (1713) II. 95 Thou couldst not think that Glass wanted new-foiling,..and thou hast slubber'd it only to cover the foul Plagium. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Slubber, to smear, or obscure with dirt. |
b. fig. To sully (renown, etc.).
| 1600 Heywood 2nd Pt. Edw. IV, Wks. 1874 I. 185 Going about to slubber our renowne. a 1625 Fletcher Hum. Lieutenant iv. i, If it be an honest end, That end's the full reward and thanks but slubbers it. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. Wks. 1851 III. 33 There is no art that hath bin..more soyl'd and slubber'd with aphorisming pedantry then the art of policie. |
c. To obscure, darken. rare—1.
| 1605 1st Part Ieronimo ii. iv, The euening to[o] begins to slubber day. |
d. intr. To become indistinct. rare—1.
| 1665 Rea Flora 53 It is a little apt to run, that is, in one or two hot days the colours to slubber and run one into the other. |
2. With advs. a. With up, = sense 1. rare—1.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 7 Each place handsome.., not so daintie as not to be trode on, nor yet slubbered vp with good fellowship. |
b. To wear out by dirty handling. rare—1.
| 1621 S. Ward Life of Faith 97 Wilt thou dye before thou hast liued, as Boyes slubber out bookes before they learne their Lesson? |
c. To daub over so as to cover or conceal. Chiefly fig., to gloss over.
| 1646 Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Wars viii. 150 Richard had much adoe to colour over his Cruelties, which not being to be Denied, hee slubber'd them over, not naming them. 1653 A. Wilson Jas. I, 63 The Court-trick to daub and slubber over things that may be perspicuous. 1654 Vilvain Theorem. Theol. i. 11 A lepry..which may be sullied or slubbered over with palliativ salvs. a 1797 Walpole Mem. Geo. II (1822) I. 238 The blemishes which these varnishers have slubbered over. |
3. a. With up: To perform, make, concoct, deal with, etc., in a hurried and careless manner.
| 1550 Lever Serm. (Arb.) 65 He minisheth Gods sacraments, he slubbers vp his seruice. 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. 20 That some stitcher, Weauer,..or Fidler, hath suffled or slubberd vp a few ragged Rimes. 1602 Carew Surv. Cornw. ii. 127 b, Many a bad mariage bargaine is there yerely slubbred vp. 1610 J. Dove Advt. Seminaries 2 It doth appear they slubber up many things negligently, and performe them loosely. a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Captain v. v, If a marriage should be thus slubberd up in a play. |
b. So without up.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. viii. 39 Slubber not businesse for my sake Bassanio. a 1659 Bp. Brownrig Serm. (1674) II. xviii. 226 Matters of less moment..may be slubbered and slighted. 1664 Jer. Taylor Dissuas. Popery i. i. §3 The Council of Trent..slubber'd the whole matter both in the question of Indulgences and Purgatory. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life ix. i, Knife and fork slubbered through the general knife-cloth. 1827 Hood Legend of Navarre xvi, Her servants stow'd him, (I am asham'd to think how he was slubber'd,) Stuck bolt upright within a corner cupboard! |
4. To run or skim over hurriedly and in a careless or slovenly manner. Also with through.
In very common use in the 17th century.
| 1592 Consp. Pretended Reform. Pref. p. iii, Matters..are so sleightly and ignorantly slubbered ouer by such Preachers. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. 80, I dare say, one Acre of Corne thus throughly husbanded, may be worth two Acres, nay three, slubbered over. 1670 Baxter Heav. Medit. 23 Which may be lost by hasty breaking off, and slubbering over so great a business. a 1716 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 194, I am encumbred with much Business, so that sometimes I forget, and at other times am forc'd to slubber over my Prayers. 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 166 Anxiety to have the business slubbered over as fast as possible. 1941 Auden New Year Let. i. 24 Time and again have slubbered through With slip and slapdash what I do. |
5. To gobble up slobberingly.
| 1640 R. Brathwait Lanc. Lovers iv, Slubber up a sillibub. |
6. intr. To be lubberly; to slabber or slobber.
| c 1820 Hogg Tales, Basil Lee (1866) 239/2 When I see a young chap lying slubberin' an' sleepin' a' the day in a heather bush. 1825 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 3 The bloated kings..Shall slubber and snore. |