Gobbie, subs. (nautical).—A coastguardsman; whence gobbie-ship, a man
of war engaged in the preventive service.
1890. Scotsman, 4 Aug. When a meeting takes place the men indulge
in a protracted yarn and a draw of the pipe. The session involves a
considerable amount of expectoration all round, whereby our friends
come to be known as gobbies, and in process of time the term came
to be applied to the ships engaged in the service. Ibid. There are
no fewer than three other gobbie ships in the channel fleet, each
of which carries a considerable number of coastguardsmen putting in
their annual period of drill.
Gobble (or Gobble up), verb. (vulgar).—To swallow hastily or greedily;
hence (American) to seize, capture, or appropriate. Also gob: e.g., gob
that!
1602. Dekker, Satiro-mastix, in wks. (1873) i. 233. They will come
to gobble downe Plummes.
1728. Swift, Misc. Poems, in wks. (1824) xiv. 232. The time too
precious now to waste, The supper gobbled up in haste.
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. cvi. Summoned in such a
plaguy hurry from his dinner, which he had been fain to gobble up
like a cannibal.
1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, vol. 1, ch. v. Mr. Jos. ... helped
Rebecca to everything on the table, and himself gobbled and drank a
great deal.
1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xiii. There was a wily old monkey who
thrust the cat’s paw out, and proposed to gobble up the smoking
prize.
Gobble-prick, subs. (old).—A lecherous woman.—Grose.
Gobbler, subs. (old).—1. A duck.—Harman.