nobble

present singular third person nobbles · participle present nobbling · participle past nobbled · past nobbled

1. CommonwealthIrelandUKslangtransitiveTo injure or obstruct intentionally.

   Near-synonyms: hobble, hamper, hinder, impede, embarrass, disable

   4 more examples

   After 12 successive league wins[…]Charlton were nobbled by the First Division's no-hopers, who profited from a goalkeeping bloomer then held on to their lead for dear life.

   2000 March 12, Stuart Barnes, “Swindon stunner for Curbishley”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Their core belief, unsupported by evidence or logic, is that homes are unaffordable because investors drive up prices.[…]Australians for Affordable Housing appears to think that nobbling investors will strike a telling blow for first-time buyers: remove negative gearing and increase capital gains tax, and homes will be affordable.

   2011 October 22, Terry Ryder, “Affordable-housing lobby out to nobble investments”, in The Australian

   Google has come out fighting after Twitter claimed that changes to its search engine nobble results to favour Google+, damaging the internet.

   2012 January 11, Gavin Clarke, “Google attacks Twitter's search bias claim”, in The Register

   His main fear is that the fledgling technology could have its wings clipped by traditional manufacturers, who will doubtless view it as a threat to their livelihoods, and do all in their powers to nobble it.

   2012 September 9, “3D printing: Difference Engine: The PC all over again”, in The Economist

   Synonyms: hobble, hamper, hinder, impede, embarrass, disable

2. IrelandUKslangtransitiveTo gain influence over by corrupt means or intimidation.

   For example jury trials were reformed to allow majority verdicts, so that criminals could less easily nobble them.

   2002, Kevin Jefferys, Labour Forces: From Ernie Bevin to Gordon Brown, page 107

   2 more examples

   Unlike "noble" vigilantes, the police and court facilities which exist are said to be inefficient and corrupt, and juries are said to be easily "nobbled" or intimidated.

   2000, Italo Pardo, Morals of Legitimacy: Between Agency and System, page 122

   Here, though, Picot's overbearing power, and the fact that the bishop was an absentee, meant that the sheriff could use threats to "nobble" the judges.

   2012, Mark Hagger, William: King and Conqueror, page 75

3. IrelandUKslangtransitiveTo steal.
4. slangtransitiveTo tamper with (typically a racehorse or greyhound) in order to prevent it from winning a race.

   Every design that villainy could suggest was had recourse to in the hopes of nobbling Wild Dayrell; but never being left for an hour by either his trainer or jockey, he escaped the intended 'coopering', even when the lynchpins of the wheels of his van had been tampered with.

   1864, Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, volume 8, page 110

   Synonyms: cooper

plural nobbles

1. UKslangtransitiveA deliberate act of injury or obstruction.