nobbling

verb

present participle of nobble, British slang
1
as in cheating
to rob by the use of trickery or threats an old scam that's been used for years to nobble unsuspecting London tourists

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in grabbing
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly a London bobby nobbled the pickpocket just as he was about to make off with the tourist's watch

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nobbling
  1. cheating
  2. grabbing
  3. squeezing
  4. catching
  5. plucking
  6. snatching
  7. stinging
  8. seizing
Verb
  • His political career, which included a spell as the Conservative Party’s deputy chairman, was interrupted by a period in prison in 2001 after he was found guilty of lying and cheating in a 1987 libel case against The Daily Star newspaper.
    — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
  • For practical purposes, the games belong to the house and the house gets to decide what’s cheating and what isn’t.
    — Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of cheating
Verb
  • Sacramento County Health Inspectors gave a red placard to a local pizzeria after observing an employee, with gloves on, grabbing a napkin and killing a cockroach then continuing to cook.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Aire Libre is still around for those who just can’t bear the thought of not grabbing a beer by the pool.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of grabbing
Verb
  • Instead, Israel's military has expanded its control to roughly 70% of Gaza, squeezing more than 2 million Palestinians near the sea's edge.
    — Anas Baba, NPR, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Kyiv's retaliatory attacks mean Russian exports are now also stuck, further squeezing global supply.
    — Jenni Reid, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of squeezing
Verb
  • The Braves scored the next three touchdowns for a 21-7 halftime lead, with Maliq Allen getting a one-yard touchdown run, DJ Tubbs catching a six-yard touchdown pass, and Moaalii making a 21-yard touchdown catch.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Other days included yoga and stretching, catching hundreds of balls on the Jugs machine or recovering at Kollective, a social performance club in Austin.
    — Sam Jane, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of catching
Verb
  • LLMs are great at finding blowups that exist—at searching the infinite landscape of fluid scenarios and plucking out the precise situation that breaks the equations.
    — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Fortunately, many dahlia insect problems in September can be solved by walking through the garden in the morning and plucking the offending insects off the plants by hand, then dropping them into a container of soapy water.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of plucking
Verb
  • This speed can be boosted in systems like NGC 362D, in which a neutron star is snatching material from a donor star because that material carries with it angular momentum.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Not just college kids, but Others cheering for Texas’ football team and snatching up Texas’ degrees.
    — Candace Buckner, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of snatching
Verb
  • Indy struggled against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in its season opener, then took a stinging 33-30 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
    — Elise Devlin, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • As of today, with that $7 million ticking fee to WBD shareholders kicking in October 1 and Ellison’s leaked threat to pull up HQ stakes outta the Golden State still stinging, the deal still sits in legal limbo.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of stinging
Verb
  • Grapevine finds a win against Eagle Mountain Grapevine football moved to 1-1 in District 3-5A Division II, seizing a 34-14 victory over Fort Worth Eagle Mountain on Friday.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Oct. 2026
  • With Pharrell Williams steering the production ship, the Athens, Georgia native wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to create his most cohesive, genre-bending body of work to date.
    — Mikey Fresh, VIBE.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of seizing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

nobbles
nobbling
nobby
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Cite this Entry

“Nobbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nobbling. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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