Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of the Industrial Workers of the World, a chiefly US labor organization dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism, active especially in the early 1900s.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • See wabbly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US, labor union A member of the Industrial Workers of the World, a militant, radical labor union.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
  • noun a member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From I Wobbly Wobbly, humorous alteration of I(ndustrial) W(orkers of the) W(orld).]

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Examples

  • A goat's camembert, it had traveled from a small producer called Wobbly Bottom Farm; the name made her giggle, the pongy cheese smell was enticing, and the sample offered had her hooked.

    Archive 2007-11-01 Annemarie 2007

  • A goat's camembert, it had traveled from a small producer called Wobbly Bottom Farm; the name made her giggle, the pongy cheese smell was enticing, and the sample offered had her hooked.

    A Sad Tale of Some Frozen Cheese Annemarie 2007

  • Obligingly, his "axe" -- the name everybody used for Universal Access Units, the miraculously small machines that allowed access to the InterWorldWeb, also called the Wobbly for reasons nobody remembered anymore -- responded by printing out a copy of his preliminary application for entrance into the Solis Space Academy.

    Delta Search Shatner, William 1997

  • VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Barack Obama: Don\'t go "Wobbly" on Iraq!'

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: Barack Obama: Don't go "Wobbly" on Iraq! 2008

  • Promoted to Headline (H2) on 6/30/08: Barack Obama: Don't go "Wobbly" on Iraq! yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Barack Obama: Don\'t go "Wobbly" on Iraq!'

    Barack Obama: Don't go "Wobbly" on Iraq! 2008

  • In the circumstances 'Wobbly' is about the kindest word that I can come up with. posted by Glyn Davies at

    Revenge of a Spurned Suitor Glyn Davies 2006

  • I'm told that since I referred to him last week as 'Wobbly' Wyn Jones and as the Hokey Kokey King of Welsh Politics, he's become so upset that he is no longer willing to work with the Tories at all.

    Its all about Ieuan Glyn Davies 2006

  • In the circumstances 'Wobbly' is about the kindest word that I can come up with. posted by Glyn Davies at

    Archive 2006-12-01 Glyn Davies 2006

  • I'm told that since I referred to him last week as 'Wobbly' Wyn Jones and as the Hokey Kokey King of Welsh Politics, he's become so upset that he is no longer willing to work with the Tories at all.

    Archive 2006-12-01 Glyn Davies 2006

  • The reader will remember the vivid picture of the contemplated rebellion in the mind of the "Wobbly" who wrote in "The Rebel Worker," April 15,

    The Red Conspiracy Joseph J. Mereto

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