wamble

wamble

English

Etymology

From an unknown root (possibly related to Latin vomere (to vomit), Norwegian vamla (to stagger), and Old Norse vāma (vomit)) + -le (frequentative suffix).

Noun

wamble (plural wambles)

1. (obsolete) Nausea; seething; bubbling.
2. (Britain, dialectal) An unsteady walk; a staggering or wobbling.
   • 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders, Chapter 11

     Fancy her white hands getting redder every day, and her tongue losing its pretty up-country curl in talking, and her bounding walk becoming the regular Hintock shail and wamble!

3. (Britain, dialectal) A rumble of the stomach.

Verb

wamble (third-person singular simple present wambles, present participle wambling, simple past and past participle wambled)

1. (Britain, dialectal) To feel nauseous, to churn (of stomach).
2. (Britain, dialectal) To twist and turn; to wriggle; to roll over.
3. (Britain, dialectal) To wobble, to totter, to waver; to walk with an unsteady gait.
   • 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders, Chapter 11

     She may shail, but she'll never wamble.