Grabble, verb. (old).—1. To seize: a frequent form of grab (q.v.).
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. To grabble the bit; to seize any one’s money.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum. You grabble the goose-cap and I’ll frisk his pokes.
2. (venery).—To grope; to fumble; to fam (q.v.).
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., 193. When Nelly, though he teized her, And grabbled her and squeezed her. [[192]]
Grabby, subs. (military).—An infantry-man. [Used in contempt by the mounted arm.] Fr., marionnette.
1868. Whyte Melville, White Rose, ch. x. ‘Is it a good regiment? How jolly to dine at mess every day!’ ‘I shouldn’t like to be a grabby though’ (this from the Dandy); ‘and after all, I’d rather be a private in the cavalry than an officer in the regiment of feet!’
Grab-gains, subs. (thieves’).—The trick of snatching a purse, etc., and making off.
Grab-game (or -coup, or -racket), subs. (old).—A mode of swindling: the sharpers start by betting among themselves; then the by-standers are induced to join; then stakes are deposited; lastly, there is a row, when one of the gang grabs the stakes, and decamps. But see quot., 1823.
1823. Bee, Dict. of the Turf, s.v. Grab-coup, modern practice of gambling, adopted by the losers, thus the person cheated, or done, takes his opportunity, makes a dash at the depository of money, or such as may be down for the play, and grabs as much as possible, pockets the proceeds, and fights his way out of the house.