scribbler

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical textile work: a worker who coarsely cards or teases wool before spinning

   The scribbler opened and cleaned the fleece before passing it to the carder and spinner.

2. 2
   noun

   a machine used for the first coarse carding or teasing of wool

   The mill's scribbler separated tangled fibers before the finer carding stage.

3. 3
   noun

   often disparaging: a hasty, careless, or undistinguished writer or artist

   The critic dismissed the anonymous pamphleteer as a political scribbler.

The writing senses come from scribble + -er. The textile senses belong to a separate scribble meaning 'to card wool coarsely,' probably related to Dutch or Low German schrobbelen ('to scrub or card'). The worker sense is documented in Smith's Scottish usage.

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