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nibble

 - 5 dictionary results

nib⋅ble

  [nib-uhl] verb, -bled, -bling, noun
Use nibble in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to bite off small bits.
2. to eat or chew in small bites: Give him a graham cracker to nibble on.
3. to bite, eat, or chew gently and in small amounts (usually fol. by at): She was so upset she could only nibble at her food.
–verb (used with object)
4. to bite off small bits of (something).
5. to eat (food) by biting off small pieces.
6. to bite in small bits: He nibbled each morsel with great deliberation.
–noun
7. a small morsel or bit: Each nibble was eaten with the air of an epicure.
8. an act or instance of nibbling.
9. a response by a fish to bait on a fishing line.
10. any preliminary positive response or reaction.
—Idiom
11. nibble away at, to cause to decrease or diminish bit by bit: Inflation was nibbling away at her savings. The rains nibbled at the loam. Also, nibble at.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME nebillen to peck away at, nibble, try, perh. < MLG nibbelen to pick with the beak; cf. nib, -le

Synonyms:
7. tidbit, bite, taste, crumb.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To nibble
nib·ble   (nĭb'əl)   
v.   nib·bled, nib·bling, nib·bles

v.   tr.

  1. To bite at gently and repeatedly.

  2. To eat with small, quick bites or in small morsels: nibble a cracker.

  3. To wear away or diminish bit by bit: "If you start compromising too early . . . they nibble you to death" (People).

v.   intr.
To take small or hesitant bites: fish nibbling at the bait.
n.  

  1. A very small quantity, especially of food; a morsel.

  2. The act or an instance of nibbling.


[Middle English nebyllen; akin to Low German nibbelen.]
nib'bler n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
nibble

  1. n.
    a cautious or preliminary response to something. (See also nybble.) : My advertisement got three nibbles this morning.
  2. in.
    to reply cautiously or tentatively to something. : I hope someone who wants to buy my car nibbles at the description I posted on the Internet.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

nibble  (v.)
"to bite gently," c.1500, perhaps from Low Ger. nibbeln "to nibble, gnaw," related to M.L.G. nibbelen, M.Du. knibbelen "to gnaw," source of Du. knibbelen "to cavail, squabble." The noun is first attested 1658.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

nibble data
/nib'l/ (US "nybble", by analogy with "bite" -> "byte") Half a byte. Since a byte is nearly always eight bits, a nibble is nearly always four bits (and can therefore be represented by one hex digit).
Other size nibbles have existed, for example the BBC Microcomputer disk file system used eleven bit sector numbers which were described as one byte (eight bits) and a nibble (three bits).
Compare crumb, tayste, dynner; see also bit, nickle, deckle.
The spelling "nybble" is uncommon in Commonwealth Hackish as British orthography suggests the pronunciation /ni:'bl/.
(1997-12-03)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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