Nobbling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of secretly hindering someone’s objectives A cunning approach used to attain an unearned advantage The activity of obstructing or manipulating another’s efforts to succeed
2. The act of covertly interfering to stop someone from achieving their goals
3. A surreptitious method of blocking or undermining another's progress

Etymology: "Nobbling" is the present participle of "nobble", a verb whose origins are unclear. Its likeliest sources include "nob", a slang word for the head, combined with the diminutive ending "-le", which would suggest a sense of striking someone on the head. Another possibility is that it is an alteration of "nubble", a dialect word for a small lump. A related dialect verb, "knobble", meant to hit or strike, which fits the idea of a physical blow. The verb's earliest meaning seems to have been physical, and the sense of interfering covertly with a rival came later. Over time the blow became a metaphor: rather than hitting an opponent, one quietly disables their chances, most famously in horse racing, where a horse might be secretly drugged or injured before a race. The word thus moved from the crude act of striking to the subtler act of sabotage.