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trickle

 - 3 dictionary results

trick⋅le

  [trik-uhl] verb, -led, -ling, noun
Use trickle in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to flow or fall by drops, or in a small, gentle stream: Tears trickled down her cheeks.
2. to come, go, or pass bit by bit, slowly, or irregularly: The guests trickled out of the room.
–verb (used with object)
3. to cause to trickle.
–noun
4. a trickling flow or stream.
5. a small, slow, or irregular quantity of anything coming, going, or proceeding: a trickle of visitors throughout the day.
Origin:
1325–75; ME triklen, trekelen (v.), appar. sandhi var. of strikle, perh. equiv. to strike (in obs. sense “flow”) + -le

Related forms:
trick⋅ling⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
4. dribble, seepage, drip.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To trickle
trick·le   (trĭk'əl)   
v.   trick·led, trick·ling, trick·les

v.   intr.

  1. To flow or fall in drops or in a thin stream.

  2. To move or proceed slowly or bit by bit: The audience trickled in.

v.   tr.
To cause to trickle.
n.  

  1. The act or condition of trickling.

  2. A slow, small, or irregular quantity that moves, proceeds, or occurs intermittently.


[Middle English triklen, perhaps variant of striklen, frequentative of striken, to flow; see strike.]
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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Word Origin & History

trickle  (v.)
c.1375, possibly an aphetic variant of stricklen "to trickle," a frequentative form of striken "to flow, move" (see strike). The noun is 1580, from the verb. Trickle-down in economic sense first recorded 1944.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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