gaffle
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɡæfl̩/
rhymes: -æfəl
Forms: form: gaffles
form: gaffling
form: gaffled
form: gaffled
Etymology: Blend of gaff + grapple.
Senses: examples: text: They would grapple till they were tired, then stop; but as soon as one would start for the bears the other would gaffle him again.
ref: 1949, Chase Salmon Osborn, Stellanova Osborn, Northwoods Sketches, page 29:
text: Just as he was going to throw the plug into the box, Jimmy's huge paw reached out and gaffled it.
ref: 1951, Modern Power & Engineering - Volume 45, page 126:
text: The nurse kep cool enough, but the menfolks fretted some; and the two ole hairpins gaffled holt of one another and plumped down onto their knees, prayin' for “deliv'rance from desaster !"
ref: 1966, Will R. Davis, Zackary Adams, Village Down East, page 79:
glosses: To grab or seize
examples: text: Ye see, he knew there wasn't barely enough grazing for him on that oasis, and a short supply of dates for me, and he had gaffled onto that place and warn't going to let go for no black feller nor yet yeller.
ref: 1905, Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards, The Armstrongs, page 197:
text: "Clever of ye," said Scattergood. "Naow, about Marjie's money. How'd ye manage to gaffle onto that?"
ref: 1939, American Magazine - Volume 127, page 147:
text: "I gaffled onto Kate,” Mrs. Swain said. "Oh, wonderful! How ever did you find her ?”
ref: 1950, Detective Book Club Selections - Volume 57, page 110:
text: Anyone who would like to share your burdens or want to know more about Christ, you are welcome to come to our Tuesday and Friday, and Sunday night bible studies or just gaffle one of the brothers on the yard.
ref: 1974, The Hilltopper, page 191:
glosses: To get hold of, to find.
examples: text: Most forgers were “drunken checkers," men who had forged checks at taverns, although now and then someone would arrive who had hung a great deal of paper before getting gaffled.
ref: 1953, Tom Runyon, In for Life, a Convict's Story, page 9696:
text: Ole Rooster, one of our best analytical minds and alleged phantom mover of The Outlaw, was gaffled up of a sudden and bussed out — not before he'd gotten his beautiful layout of info on the indeterminate sentencing law off to Cleaver's attorneys, though.
ref: 1971, Robert J. Minton, Inside; Prison American Style, page 204:
text: They come on down, man, gaffled me up and put the cuffs on my hands.
ref: 1994, Eugene P. Delorme, Inez Cardozo-Freeman, Chief: The Life History of Eugene Delorme, page 83:
text: Just as things appear to be coming together, a predawn, no-knock raid surprises you, and vile, profanity-slanging soldiers from the enemy culture invade your space, gaffle you and haul you off to a cage.
ref: 1999, Rap Pages - Volume 8, page 48:
glosses: To arrest for criminal activity.
examples: text: I presume that one of them walked out to the back end to see if any one had been trespassing, and finding my trap had gaffled it.
ref: 1906, Hunter-trader-trapper - Volume 10, page 73:
text: “That hooligan gaffled my wallet,” Seth told Mort, his breathing now back to near normal.
ref: 2012, Jessica Fletcher, Donald Bain, Murder, She Wrote: Domestic Malice:
glosses: To steal
examples: text: In other words , you know the trouble around here — and this is pertinent , too — that there have been too many committees in which the minority has allowed itself to be gaffled into submission and silence.
ref: 1958, René Albert Wormser, Foundations, Their Power and Influence, page 363:
text: They then stole a maroon Oldsmobile Delta Eighty-Eight from a parking lot on Harvard Avenue and resumed their search for a victim to “gaffle."
ref: 1994, North eastern reporter. second series - Volume 623, page 76:
text: SHEILA: I'm late — 'cause I just got gaffled G ROC (Overlapping): Got gaffled?! Whatchu mean you got gaffled?!
ref: 2004, Harry Justin Elam, Robert Alexander, The Fire this Time: African-American Plays for the 21st Century, page 410:
text: Boo savored the sweetness of strength and gaffled his peers for their lunch money.
ref: 2008, Jeffery Renard Allen, Holding Pattern: Stories, page 226:
text: I thought back to the last time I'd seen my first and only boyfriend, recalling his smile as he'd gone off to do battle for me, saving me from getting gaffled.
ref: 2012, Kresley Cole, Poison Princess, page 149:
text: There really are no paying customers with any sense of good, orderly direction going to any perceivable destination with purpose, except to sponge off of others or to gaffle intending drug buyers.
ref: 2015, Douglas Meriwether, The Dao of Doug 2: the Art of Driving a Bus, page 154:
glosses: To swindle or bully (someone)
examples: text: So I commenced to yell, And old man Pease he hugged his knees and gaffled to his pail.
ref: 1916, Holman Day, Up in Maine: Stories of Yankee Life Told in Verse, page 189:
text: The honey birds gaffle – I'm coming to you soon, I'm coming to you as they leave , and one insect starts to call, and will call all night, with the exact monotonous cheep-cheep of young English house-sparrows in June.
ref: 1987, Seán Virgo, Selakhi, page 157:
text: Leaving that to the rappers, it's their business But to be down or not to be down Is still debatable for plausible reasons For one seldom knows the directions others are traveling in Or if one-time wants to do some gaffling
ref: 2011, Hakim Askia, Compelling Thoughts, page 125:
glosses: To talk without a purpose, usually about inane or pointless topics; to babble.
Related terms: giffle-gaffle