ˈdibble-ˈdabble colloq. or dial.
[Reduplication of dabble, the form expressing repetition with alternation of intensity, as in bibble-babble, tittle-tattle, zig-zag, etc.]
lit. An irregular course of dabbling or splashing; fig. rubbish; also, uproar with violence.
| c 1550 Bale K. Johan (Camden) 7 They are but dyble dable I marvell ye can abyd such byble bable. 1767 C'tess. Cowper in Mrs. Delany's Life & Corr. Ser. ii. (1862) I. 99 It turned out such a dibble-dabble... We have had March weather before March came. 1825 Jamieson, Dibble-dabble, uproar, accompanied with violence. 1847–78 Halliwell, Dibble-dabble, rubbish. North. |