gibber n.2
(Aus.) stones used to form a roadway; usu. in context of being thrown by a young criminal.
[ | (con. 1820s) Settlers & Convicts 159: He did not object to stow himself [...] under the ‘gibbers’ (overhanging rocks)]. | |
Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Dec. 3/4: An able-bodied corporation labourer [...] was carefully picking up loose bits of road-metal [...] he afterwards spent half a day wiping the ‘gibbers’ with his handkerchief. | ||
‘The Rocks Push Eisteddfod’ in Bird o’ Freedom (Sydney) in Larrikins (1973) 89: They slottie gibber in my shlop, / They punch me in der head! | ||
Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 20 Apr. 2/7: [headline] Ex-Rev George Saw Ghostly Gibber Slingers. | ||
Mail (Adelaide) 1 Dec. 2s/5: Australians have bult up a vocabulary of some 7,000 slang words [...] gibber (stone). | ||
(ref. to 1890s) ‘Gloss. of Larrikin Terms’ in Larrikins 202: gibber, ghibbers: stones, blue metal, especially for throwing. | ||
Aus. Word Map 🌐 gibber n. a stone or pebble. |