Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To flow or fall in drops or an unsteady stream; trickle.
  • intransitive verb To let saliva drip from the mouth; drool.
  • intransitive verb To move a ball or puck by repeated light bounces or kicks, as in basketball or soccer.
  • intransitive verb To advance by dribbling.
  • intransitive verb To let flow or fall in drops or an unsteady stream.
  • intransitive verb To move (a ball or puck) by dribbling.
  • intransitive verb To hit (a baseball, for example) so that it bounces slowly and low to the ground.
  • noun A weak, unsteady stream; a trickle.
  • noun A small quantity; a bit.
  • noun Sports The act of dribbling a ball.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A variant of drivel.
  • To drivel; slaver.
  • To fall in drops or small particles, or in a quick succession of drops: as, water dribbles from the eaves.
  • To fall weakly and slowly.
  • To act or think feebly; want vigor or energy.
  • To be of trifling importance.
  • To throw down or let fall in drops or bits.
  • To give out in small portions: often with out.
  • In foot-ball and other games, to give a slight kick or shove to, as the ball, without intending to send it far.
  • noun Any small quantity of dropping or trickling fluid; a dropping or dripping: as, the dribble from the eaves.
  • noun Drizzly or wet weather.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun colloq. A drizzling shower; a falling or leaking in drops.
  • noun An act of dribbling{2} a ball.
  • intransitive verb To fall in drops or small drops, or in a quick succession of drops.
  • intransitive verb To slaver, as a child or an idiot; to drivel.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To fall weakly and slowly.
  • intransitive verb In basketball, football and similar games, to dribble{2} the ball.
  • intransitive verb To live or pass one's time in a trivial fashion.
  • transitive verb To let fall in drops.
  • transitive verb In basketball and various other games, to propel (the ball) by successive slight hits or kicks so as to keep it always in control.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To let saliva drip from the mouth, to drool
  • verb To fall in drops or an unsteady stream, to trickle
  • verb In various ball games, to run with the ball, controlling its path with the feet
  • verb basketball To bounce the ball on the floor with one hand at a time, enabling the player to move with it;
  • verb To advance by dribbling
  • verb transitive to let something fall in drips
  • verb transitive in various ball games, to move the ball, by repeated light kicks
  • noun A weak, unsteady stream; a trickle.
  • noun A small amount of a liquid.
  • noun In sport, the act of dribbling.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb propel,
  • noun flowing in drops; the formation and falling of drops of liquid
  • noun saliva spilling from the mouth
  • noun the propulsion of a ball by repeated taps or kicks
  • verb let or cause to fall in drops
  • verb let saliva drivel from the mouth
  • verb run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Frequentative of obsolete drib, alteration of drip.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

drib +‎ -le (“early modern English frequentative suffix”)

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Examples

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  • A true dribble, a laborious and diligent servant. --old provincial term from the north of England. Grose's A Provincial Glossary, 1787.

    May 7, 2011