nibble

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 
“
The ladies, to do them justice, are never at all suspicious about men--on the 'nibble'--always taking it for granted, they are 'all they could wish,' and they know each other so well, that any cautionary hint acts rather in a man's favour than otherwise.

View all »
Definitions (21)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. transitive verb To bite at gently and repeatedly.
  2. transitive verb To eat with small, quick bites or in small morsels: nibble a cracker.
  3. transitive verb To wear away or diminish bit by bit: "If you start compromising too early . . . they nibble you to death” (People).
3 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • Even after this brief separation it was, as far as he was concerned, an occasion for pouncing, barking, and the endearing kind of nibble which was the way he had of kissing. —  Eternity Ring - Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver 13: 1948
  • Where mice were all squeak, nibble, and mob, rats were disciplined and resourceful The colonel studied them as they passed. —  EQMM,January2007
  • The closest approach to a nibble was when Dr. Cunningham, an American, a foreman in the plant where Tesla was employed, suggested formation of a stock company. —  Prodigal genius - Tesla Biography
  • Once a phisher gets a nibble, they position themselves as a known authority (i.e. your bank), preying on the naivete and disorientation of their victim. —  Original Signal - Transmitting Buzz
  • We don't get a nibble, let alone the bite, even when the position sounded tailor made for us. —  Pink Slip
More examples »
 

Tags

nibble hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 97 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English nebyllen; akin to Low German nibbelen.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Not found in Middle English (=Low German nibbeln, knibbeln, nibble); freq. of nib, nip (cf. dibble, from dip).
  2. from nibble, v.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈnɪbl/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a month.

Recently looked up

woke · tarantass · trust · accomplished · muscular

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

cuddlefish · cuttlefish · mamaroneck · maladministration · antidisestablishmentarianism