Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also verbal up) of the police, to fake a confession by claiming that, under interrogation, someone admitted the crimes for which they are pleading not guilty in court; thus verballing n.

1972		P. Fordham Inside the Und. 122: The threatened police ‘verballing’ took place.
1982		G. Newbold Big Huey 255: verbal (n) and (v) Use of uncorroborated (and false) verbal evidence against an accused.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 16: Unless you’ve got an independent witness there at the police station when you’re charged, they can verbal you with things you never said [...] They can verbal you up, like they can type up an unsigned record of interview claiming that you made all these admissions.
1993		Smith & Noble Neddy (1998) 270: Every cop I spoke to assured me there was no way the taskforce would load me up [plant evidence] or try to verbal me [obtain a false confession].
1999		D. Looser ‘Boob Jargon’ in NZEJ 13 37: verbal v. To use false evidence against the accused .
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 198/1: verbal v. to use false evidence against the accused, esp. to attribute incriminating statements to him, in order to secure a conviction.
2004		(con. 1988) N. ‘Razor’ Smith A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun 309: Verballing is nothing new, and the police have probably been using this tactic since they nicked their first suspect.
2006		B. Matthews Intractable [ebook] The controversy about police verballing and fabricating confessional evidence to bolster prosecution cases was a bone of contention in Australian law courts.

2. to talk.

1974		G.F. Newman You Flash Bastard 91: Sneed liked women verballing when he fucked them, particularly Juliet’s kind.
1983		R. Aven-Bray Ridgey-Didge Oz Jack Lang 7: ‘Want a twist an’ twirl, luv?’ she verballed in anticipation.

3. to confess under interrogation.

1993

M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read How to Shoot Friends 48: Karen promised me if she got the job, she wouldn’t verbal me in a police station.

4. to talk aggressively, to abuse.

1996		(con. 1964-65) B. Thorpe Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 69: Mrs Kennedy [...] started verballing the sergeant again.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 207: He even has to verbal some squeegee refugee, some sad fuck who wipe a stain on the screen for 10p.