Link Centre Dictionary

nibble

UK/ˈnɪbl̩/ US/ˈnɪb(ə)l/ uncommon informal obsolete rare slang
noun (2) verb (3)

noun

1.

a small byte

Synonyms
2.

verb

1.

bite off very small pieces

  • “She nibbled on her cracker”
2.

bite gently

  • “The woman tenderly nibbled at her baby”
3.

eat intermittently; take small bites of

  • “He pieced at the sandwich all morning”
  • “She never eats a full meal--she just nibbles”
Synonyms

Origin

The verb is derived from Late Middle English nebillen, nebyll (“to peck away at (something), nibble; (figurative) to attempt to sing (a part of a song)”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Middle Low German nibbelen (“to eat in small bites, peck”) (modern German Low German nibbeln, gnibbeln, knibbeln), possibly a variant of knabbelen, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press”) or imitative. The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Middle Dutch cnibbelen (modern Dutch knibbelen (“to gnaw; to murmur”), nibbelen (“to nibble”)) * Saterland Frisian nibje (“to nibble”) * West Frisian knibbelje

Phrases

  • nibble fish

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.