[f. STUBBLE sb.]
1. trans. To clear (land) of stubble. Also to remove stubble from (one’s face).
1491. Caxton, Vitas Patr. (W. de W.), II. (1495), 256 b/1. How shall it be to me possyble to stubble & make clene this pyece of londe here.
1836. T. Hook, G. Gurney, III. 128. He began stubbling his chin, as before.
b. To trample down into stubble.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 243. The grass is stubbled down into paths by hippos.
2. Cant. Stubble it! stubble your whids! hold your tongue!
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Stubble-it.
1827. Lytton, Pelham, lxxxii. Stubble it, you ben. Ibid. (1830), P. Clifford, xvi. Stubble your whids, You wants to trick I!
Hence Stubbling vbl. sb.
1872. Daily News, 25 Sept., 3/5. There is gleaning and stubbling, and then the two harvests of hay and corn, when hard work is to be done.
