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Webster 1913 Edition

Verb.

[Cf. LG.

nubben

to knock, cuff.]

To beat or bruise with the fist.

[Obs.]

Ainsworth.

Verb.

[for knubble, from knob, the fist.] To beat or bruise with the fist. [Not used.]

nubble ‎(plural nubbles)

A small knob or lump.
- 1897, Kipling, Captains Courageous, chapter 1
  Harvey saw with disgust that there were no sheets on his bed-place. He was lying on a piece of dingy ticking full of lumps and nubbles.

nubble ‎(third-person singular simple present nubbles, present participle nubbling, simple past and past participle nubbled)

(obsolete) To beat or bruise with the fist.
(Can we find and add a quotation of Ainsworth to this entry?)