drib

drib

English

Etymology 1

From dialectal English drib (compare also drub), a variant from Middle English drepen (“to hit, strike, slay”), from Old English drepan (“to strike, kill, overcome”), from Proto-Germanic *drepaną (“to hit, strike”). More at drub.

Verb

drib (third-person singular simple present dribs, present participle dribbing, simple past and past participle dribbed)

1. (transitive) To cut off; chop off.
2. (transitive) To cut off little by little; cheat by small and reiterated tricks; purloin.
3. (transitive) To entice step by step.
   • Dryden

     With daily lies she dribs thee into cost.

4. To appropriate unlawfully; to embezzle.
   • Dryden

     He who drives their bargain dribs a part.

5. (transitive, archery) To shoot directly at short range.
6. (intransitive, archery) To shoot at a mark at short range.
7. (transitive, archery) To shoot (a shaft) so as to pierce on the descent.
   • Sir Philip Sidney

     Not at first sight, nor with a dribbèd shot, / Love gave the wound [...] (Astrophil and Stella, Sonnet 2)

8. (transitive, now chiefly Britain dialectal) To beat; thrash; drub.
9. (transitive, now chiefly Britain dialectal) To scold.
10. (transitive, now chiefly Britain dialectal, marbles) To strike another player's marble when playing from the trigger.

Etymology 2

From a variant of drip.

Noun

drib (plural dribs)

1. (obsolete) A drop.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jonathan Swift to this entry?)

Derived terms

• dribs and drabs

Anagrams

• Bird, bird