nibble
/ˈnɪb(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.85 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To lightly bite (a person or animal, or part of their body), especially in a loving or playful manner; to nip.
Transitive verb
verb
Chiefly followed by into or to: to cause (something) to be in a certain state through small bites.
Transitive verb
verb
To fidget or play with (something), especially with the fingers or hands.
Obsolete; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The rabbit nibbled the lettuce."
- "His little Goats gan driue out of their ſtalls, / To feede abroad, vvhere paſture beſt befalls. / […] / Some clambring through the hollovv cliffes on hy, / Nibble the buſhie ſhrubs, vvhich grovve thereby."
- "I then nibbled all the red wax of our last ball-tickets, […]"
- "Dire Ills, it ſeems! their Gods denounce in Rage; / And Garlick only, can their Gods aſſvvage. / Thrice then, each Morn, (for thrice the Povvers direct) / Garlick thou nibbleſt, vvith devout Reſpect."
- "A silent space with ever sprouting green. / All the tenderest birds there find a pleasant screen, / Creep through the shade with jaunty fluttering, / Nibble the little cupped flowers and sing."
- "Where every stream in its pent-house / Goes gurgling on its way, / And in his gallery the mouse / Nibbleth the meadow hay; […]"
Etymology
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
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: nebillen, nibbelen, *gnet-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈnɪb(ə)l/
- British English: /ˈnɪbl̩/
Usage
Inflected Forms
nibbles (present, singular)
nibbling (participle, present)
nibbled (participle, past)
nibbled (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
nibbled (first person, past)
nibblest (archaic, present)
nibbled (past, second person)
nibbledst (archaic, past)
nibbleth (archaic, present)
nibbled (past, singular)