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.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images