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dibble

noun
/ˈdɪb(ə)l/US

Etymology

From the character of Officer Charlie Dibble, a New York Police Department officer, in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Top Cat (first broadcast in the US in 1961, and in the UK in 1962 under the title Boss Cat).

Definitions

  1. A pointed implement used to make holes in the ground in which to set out plants or to…

    A pointed implement used to make holes in the ground in which to set out plants or to plant seeds.

    • Pol[ixenes] Then make you[r] Garden rich in Gilly'vors, / And do not call them baſtards. / Per[dita] Ile not put / The Dible in earth, to ſet one ſlip of them: […]
    • Earth'd up, here lies an imp o' hell, / Planted by Satan's dibble— / Poor silly wretch, he's damned himsel', / To save the Lord the trouble.
    • In sowing time ne'er would I dibble take, / Or drop a seed, till thou wast wide awake; […]

  2. To make holes or plant seeds using, or as if using, a dibble.

  3. To use a dibble

    To use a dibble; to make holes in the soil.

    • I would as soon be gored by my ain bull that gangs on Dalmakittenleys, as have ill luck, and sorrow, and mischance, drilled and dibbled into my frail body by the spiteful een of an auld hag.
  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. To dib or dip frequently, as in angling.

      • And neere to them ye see the lesser dibling Teale

    2. A police officer, especially one serving with Greater Manchester Police.

    3. Preceded by the

      Preceded by the: the police.

      • Watch out, lads! Here comes the dibble!
      • In Moss Side they called the police Dibble, after Officer Dibble in the cartoon Top Cat, so the name had sprung from that.
      • Bein' in the dibble [police] is no cakewalk when you're black. / If you don't get fitted, then you'll prob'ly get the sack.

    4. A surname originating as a patronymic.

The neighborhood

Derived

dibbler

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for dibble. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA