nobber, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

nobber n.

1. pertaining to violence.

(a) a blow on the head.

1819		‘One of the Fancy’ Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress 29: The nobbers of johnson – big ben’s banging brain-blows.
1820		Jack Randall’s Diary 65: In thund’ring floorers let me shine sublime, In nobbers famed.
1832		Egan Bk of Sports 200: Neal made play with his right hand and planted a nobber.
1842		Whip (N.Y.) 9 July 2/4: Bob made a good nobber and smiled; but Tom [...] in closing fibbed and fell upon him.
1843		Satirist & Sporting Chron. (Sydney) 4 Feb. 2/2: Brobdignag, however, was not idle in returning nobbers.
1847		Era (London) 18 July 6/2: Smart nobbers were exchanged on both sides.
1855		(con. 1819) Fights for the Championship 58: Spring put in a good nobber without any return.

(b) a boxer skilled at delivering such blows.

1820		Jack Randall’s Diary 26: This doughty Nobber.
1821		Sporting Mag. VIII 263: Nature seems to have taken particular pains in qualifying Randall for a nobber of first-rate excellence.
1850		Thackeray Pendennis II 5: The Three-cornered Hat [...] where Conkey Sam, Dick the Nailor, and Deadman (the Worcestershire Nobber), would put on the gloves.
1894		Mirror of Life 8 Sept. 2/3: ‘Jimmy the Nobber, the bloke wots down at Wictoria Docks, is the strongest joker as I know on’.
1896		A. Morrison Child of the Jago (1982) 121: The old man whipped out his case-knife and drove it into the flesh of Nobber Sugg’s arm.

1935

A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Nobber, a thug who strikes victim with blackjack and then robs them.

2. a collector of money, esp. when serving as the assistant to a street performer.

1886		W. Newton Secrets of Tramp Life Revealed 19: You will see five or six of them together singing through the streets, some of them are called ‘Nobbers’. They go to the doors and shops to collect victuals, or anything the public are disposed to give.
1890		Spare Moments 23 Aug. n.p.: A good nobber or collector [...] is worth every penny of his share for nobbing alone [F&H].
1893		P.H. Emerson Signor Lippo 12: Well, after a lot of songs one of the nobbers called out ‘John Audley’.
1933		‘George Orwell’ Down and Out in Complete Works I (1986) 164: You keep at work and get a crowd watching you, and the nobber comes casual-like round the back of them.

3. (Irish) a fool.

2015

L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 87: ‘Was she up all night talking to nobbers?’.