dibs

[dibz]
noun Informal.
1.
money in small amounts.
2.
rights; claims: I have dibs on the car when Jimmy brings it back.
Origin:
1720–30; shortening of earlier dibstones a children's game; see dib

Dictionary.com Unabridged

dib

[dib]
verb (used without object), dibbed, dib·bing.
to fish by letting the bait bob lightly on the water.
Origin:
1600–10; expressive word akin to dab1, dip1, bob1, etc.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Dibs is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
dib (dɪb) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb , dibs, dibbing, dibbed
(intr) to fish by allowing the bait to bob and dip on the surface
 
[C17: perhaps alteration of dab1]

dibs (dɪbz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—pl n
1.  another word for jacks
2.  a slang word for money
3.  informal (foll by on) rights (to) or claims (on): used mainly by children
 
[C18: shortened from dibstones children's game played with knucklebones or pebbles, probably from dib to tap, dip, variant of dab1]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dibs
children's word to express a claim on something, 1932, originally U.S., apparently a contraction of dibstone "a knucklebone or jack in a children's game" (1690s), of unknown origin.

dib
see dibs.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
DIB
device independent bitmap
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

dibs

see have dibs on.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

dibs

game of great antiquity and worldwide distribution, now played with stones, bones, seeds, filled cloth bags, or metal or plastic counters (the jacks), with or without a ball. The name derives from "chackstones"-stones to be tossed. The knuckle, wrist, or ankle bones (astragals) of goats, sheep, or other animals also have been used in play. Such objects have been found in prehistoric caves in Kiev, Ukraine, and pictures of the game are depicted on jars from ancient Greece.

Learn more about dibs with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Communities will get first dibs on government transportation money.
She even got first dibs during the demolition, knocking down the door to the locker room with a single swing of a sledgehammer.
Idioms & Phrases
have dibs on
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