nibble

nibble

See also: Nibble

English

Etymology 1

Probably of Dutch or Low German origin, perhaps from Middle Low German nibbelen (“to gnaw”), akin to modern Low German nibbeln (“to gnaw”) and Dutch nibbelen (“to nibble”), equivalent to nip +‎ -le (frequentative suffix).[1] Compare Saterland Frisian nibje (“to nibble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪbəl/
• Rhymes: -ɪbəl

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Noun

nibble (plural nibbles)

1. A small, quick bite taken with the front teeth.
2. (in the plural, nibbles) Small snacks such as crisps/potato chips or nuts, often eaten to accompany drinks.

Derived terms

• nibbly

Translations

a small, quick bite taken with the front teeth

Bulgarian: хапка (bg) f (hapka) Chinese: Mandarin: 輕咬／轻咬 (zh) (qīngyǎo) Finnish: näykkäisy Galician: chancho m, petisco (gl) m, tanisco m, trabadela f, chantada (gl) f Greek: τσιμπολόγημα (el) n (tsimpológima) Hungarian: falat (hu) Italian: boccone (it) m, morso (it) m, morsetto (it) m, bocconcino m Maori: tongi (as a fish at bait) Portuguese: mordisco, beliscada Turkish: dişleme (tr)

small snacks

Bikol Central: timutimo Chinese: Mandarin: 小吃 (zh) (xiǎochī) Finnish: naksut (fi) Galician: petisco (gl) m Greek: μεζέδες (el) m pl (mezédes), (diminutive) μεζεδάκια (el) n pl (mezedákia) Italian: stuzzichino (it) m

Verb

nibble (third-person singular simple present nibbles, present participle nibbling, simple past and past participle nibbled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To eat with small, quick bites.

   The rabbit nibbled the lettuce.

   The rabbit nibbled at the lettuce.

   • 2014 November 2, Alex James, “The day I came face-to-face with a tiger”, in The Guardian‎:

     Giant parrots nibbled seed from the children's fingertips and my sister peeled a couple of satsumas for the lemurs.

   • 1911, Rudyard Kipling, Big Steamers:

     For the bread that you eat and the biscuits you nibble, / The sweets that you suck and the joints that you carve, / They are brought to you daily by all us Big Steamers-- / And if anyone hinders our coming you'll starve!

2. (transitive) To bite lightly.

   He nibbled at my neck and made me shiver.

3. (figurative) To consume gradually.
   • 2011 May 11, Ann Carrns, “Prepaid Cards Subject Jobless to Host of Fees”, in The New York Times‎:

     A report out this week from the National Consumer Law Center lays out a host of ways in which banks nibble away at jobless benefits with fees the center called “junk.”

4. To find fault; to cavil.

Synonyms

• (eat delicately): piddle

Derived terms

• nibbler

Translations

to eat with small bites

Armenian: կրծել (hy) (krcel) Bikol Central: timutimo Bulgarian: гриза (bg) (griza), отхапвам (bg) (othapvam) Chinese: Mandarin: 一點一點地吃, 一点一点地吃 (yīdiǎn yīdiǎn de chī) Czech: okusovat, ohlodávat, hlodat Dutch: knabbelen (nl) Esperanto: mordeti Finnish: näykkiä (fi) French: grignoter (fr) Galician: beliscar, petiscar, amosegar, comichar Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: knabbern (de) Greek: περιτρώγω (peritrógo), ροκανίζω (el) (rokanízo), τσιμπολογώ (el) (tsimpologó) Ancient: χναύω (khnaúō) Hungarian: majszol (hu) Italian: rosicchiare (it), mordicchiare, rosicare (it) Japanese: please add this translation if you can Khmer: ទែះ (km) (teh), ចឹក (km) (cək) (of birds and fish), កកេរ (km) (kɑkee) Latvian: knibināt Lushootseed: ʔiʔɬəd Maori: kōhonihoni, kai whakapītaitai Mongolian: мэрэх (mn) (merex) Portuguese: mordiscar (pt), comiscar Russian: грызть (ru) (gryztʹ) Scottish Gaelic: criom Spanish: mordisquear (es), picotear (es), comiscar (es) Swedish: knapra (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: dişlemek (tr) Vietnamese: nhấm nháp (vi), nhâm nhi (vi)

to bite lightly

Chinese: Mandarin: 輕咬／轻咬 (zh) (qīngyǎo) Esperanto: mordeti Finnish: näykkäistä Galician: amordicar Italian: mordicchiare Portuguese: mordiscar (pt) Spanish: mordisquear (es)

Etymology 2

From nibble, punning on the homophony of byte and bite.

Alternative forms

• nybble

Noun

nibble (plural nibbles)

1. (computing) A unit of memory equal to half a byte, or four bits.[2]
   • 1993, Richard E. Haskell, Introduction to computer engineering, page 287:

     That is, the lower nibble (the 4 bits 1010 = A) has been masked to zero.

Translations

(computing) A unit of memory equal to half a byte, or four bits

Czech: nibble Dutch: nibble Finnish: puolitavu French: nibble (fr), quartet (fr) m, semioctet m, tétrade (fr) f German: Nibble (de) Greek: ημιψηφιόλεξη f (imipsifiólexi) Italian: unità di 4 bit f, semibyte m Japanese: ニブル (niburu) Portuguese: nibble m Russian: ниббл (nibbl), полубайт (ru) (polubajt) Swedish: nibble (sv)

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
2. http://foldoc.org/nibble

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Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English nibble.

Noun

nibble m (plural nibbles)

1. (computing) nibble (half a byte)