▪ I. garble, n.
(ˈgɑːb(ə)l)
Also 6–7 garbell, -byll.
[prob. ad. It. garbello (whence F. grabeau, which has had all the Eng. senses), f. garbellare to garble.]
† 1. Refuse (of spices); extraneous matter. Obs.
| 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 234 The garbyll of macis. 1603–4 Act 1 Jas. I, c. 19 §2 If any the said Spices..shall be mixed with any Garbles..after..the same shalbe first garbled..by the Garbler thereunto appointed. 1640 in Entick London II. 175 Garble of cloves, of Almonds. 1721 Bailey, Garbles, the Dust, Soil or Filth, separated by garbling. 1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 132 Garble, the refuse from spices, drugs, &c. |
† 2. Merchandise containing an admixture of refuse or waste. Obs.
| 1618 Dalton Country Just. 116 Euery thing which beareth the name of Garbell, and whereof issueth a refuse, or waste. 1638 Penkethman Artach. D 8 Pitch, tarre, hempe..allome, wooll, silke and all other things that beare the name of Garbell and doe yeeld a refuse or waste. |
b. A mixture of base and precious metal; = alloy 5.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts etc. 1058 The acid must be boiled on the granulated garble, or alloy, to effect the solution of the silver. 1868 in E. Seyd Bullion & For. Exch. 190. |
3. The process of garbling, in various senses.
| 1808 Wolcott (P. Pindar) To Nollekens Wks. 1816 IV. 410 Did not the lady smile upon the garble [i.e. the mutilation of a statue]. 1829 Heath Grocers' Comp. (1854) 60 The officer..was sworn..to observe that the garble of merchants goods should be impartial. |
▪ II. garble, v.
(ˈgɑːb(ə)l)
Also 6–7 garbel.
[App. originally a term of Mediterranean commerce, ad. It. garbellare, ad. Arab. gharbala (also karbala) to sift, select, related to ghirbāl, kirbāl, sieve; cf. Sp. garbillare to sift corn, garbillo corn-sieve. The It. word was adopted also in Fr.; the pa. pple. garbellé occurs in a quot. given by Godefr. erroneously s.v. gerbele; from 16th c. the vb. appears as grabeler.
The twofold form of the Arab. words shows that they are not of native formation; a probable source has been found in the late L. crībellare, f. crībellum dim. of crībrum sieve.]
† 1. trans. To remove the garble or refuse from (spice, etc.); to sift, cleanse (const. of); also, to sift out. Obs.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 177 [At Alexandria] all sortes of spices be garbled after the bargaine is made. 1619 in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1849) II. 172 He hath granted..four-pence halfpenny upon every chaldron of sea coal, to see they may be better garbled or cleansed. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 79 We fall all a Coughing, which lasts..as long as we are garbling it [red pepper]. 1687 Phil. Trans. XVI. 503 They..will crumble into Grains, and the Wings separate from them, which must be garbled out. 1722 De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) Pref. 12 The whole relation is carefully garbled of all its levity and looseness. 1789 Saunders in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 107 Seed lac is only the stick lac broke into small pieces, garbled, and appearing in a granulated form. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 65 Cochineal may be screened and garbled in the presence of the proper officers. |
2. To select or sort out the best in (any thing or set of things); to take the pick of. Now rare exc. in to garble the coinage. Also with out.
| 1483 [see garbling vbl. n.]. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wit & Mirth Wks. ii. 176 Wit and Mirth..Apothegmatically bundled vp and garbled at the request of old John Garret's Ghost. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. ii. 177 Why did not Cicero garble [Fr. orig. esplucher] all those different Opinions..to frame a good one if possible? a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 344 A privilege..to garble the live pigs in the markets of the city. 1708 Ozell tr. Boileau's Lutrin v. 90 Each Glutton hunts, and garbles out Nice Bits. 1720 Stow's Surv. Lond. (ed. Strype) II. 239/2 To prevent this Office of garbling Wools, the Haberdashers interposed. 1814 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. LXXIV. 308 It has been found necessary to garble his parterre, to throw away the flowerets that are off show [etc.]. 1859 R. F. Burton Cent. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 438 The gum..is then carefully garbled with due regard to colour and size. 1875 Jevons Money viii. 81 Hence arises the practice, extensively carried on in the present day in England, of picking and culling, or, as another technical expression is, garbling the coinage, devoting the good new coins to the melting-pot, and passing the old worn coins into circulation again. |
† b. esp. To ‘sift’ or ‘weed’ (an army, corporation, etc.) so as to exclude unfit or uncompliant members. Also to garble out: to remove (objectionable persons) after selection. Obs.
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. viii. 174 But his army must be garbled, as too great for God to give victory thereby. 1658 Osborn Adv. Son (ed. 6) 2 By garbling out of them all Boys of an incapacity. 1661 in Cobbett Parl. Hist. (1808) IV. 219 The house of commons was first garbled, and then turned out of doors. 1690 Plain English 7 Who garbled Corporations, and deprived Men of their greatest Civil Rights. 1736 T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 64 Colleges were attempted to be garbled, and immemorial Foundations broken in upon..to make Room even for Profligates, if new Converts. 1770 Junius Lett. xl. 207 The army..will not submit to be garbled. 1809 Ann. Reg. 230 The government..set itself to garble the army to its mind. |
3. To make selections from with a (usually unfair or mischievous) purpose; to mutilate (a statement, writing, etc.) with a view to misrepresentation.
| 1689–92 Locke Toleration iii. vii. Wks. 1727 II. 376 To garble thus the Truths of Religion, and by their own Authority take some not necessary to Salvation. 1736 Bolingbroke Patriot. Advt. (1749) 9 More properly the writings of others than his, considering how they had been garbled. 1794 Burke Rep. Lords' Jrnls. Wks. 1842 II. 623 To break to pieces and to garble those facts. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India III. vi. i. 42 The late Governor-General..had withheld, mutilated, or garbled the correspondence. 1833 Peel in Croker Papers 29 Sept. (1884), The evidence has been since garbled in publication. 1877 C. Geikie Christ lxi. (1879) 750 Those who came forward garbled, or misunderstood the words of Jesus. 1888 Frith Autobiog. III. viii. 175 He had..garbled the title of her picture in the Catalogue. 1895 F. Hall Two Trifles 8 By garbling me he indulges in uncandid suppression of the truth. |
¶ 4. Confused with garbage v. = garbage v. 1.
| 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd. d 2, Birds..rightly killed, garbelled, and pulled. |
▪ III. garble
obs. form of garboard.