Meanings
- archaicuncountableThe process of breaking up the flat masses into which wrought iron is first hammered, so that the pieces can be reheated and wrought into bar iron.
Cabbler (kabbler), n. One who works at cabbling. […]
1894, Noah Webster, Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language, page 1993 more examples
The pieces of iron obtained by cabbling are then heated in another furnace almost to fusion, hammered down into shape, and ultimately drawn out into bar-iron.
1850, John Weale, Rudimentary dictionary of terms used in architecture, etc., page 71Finery iron is smelted with charcoal, and when a soft mass of about two hundredweight is formed it is hammered out into a flat oval from two to four inches in thickness; this is allowed to cool, and is then broken up into small pieces, which is the process of cabbling or scabbling.
1878, Robert Hunt, Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, volume 1[…] cabbling commences, which is simply breaking up this flat iron into small pieces.
1901, The International Encyclopaedic Dictionary ..., page 692
Cite this entry
cabbling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cabbling
“cabbling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cabbling. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cabbling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cabbling.
Source: cabbling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.