drib
To cut off; chop offTo cut off; chop off.
» The guests arrived in dribs and drabs.
Meaning
10 senses(transitive)To cut off; chop off.
(transitive)To cut off little by little; cheat by small and reiterated tricks; purloin.
(transitive)To entice step by step.
To appropriate unlawfully; to embezzle.
(transitive)To shoot directly at short range.
(intransitive)To shoot at a mark at short range.
(transitive)To shoot (a shaft) so as to pierce on the descent.
(UK, dialectal, transitive)To beat; thrash; drub.
(UK, dialectal, transitive)To scold.
(UK, dialectal, transitive)To strike another player's marble when playing from the trigger.
Examples
3 sentencesThe guests arrived in dribs and drabs.
Information is coming through in dribs and drabs.
ruИнформация поступает обрывками.
deNach und nach sickern Informationen durch.
Information is coming through in dribs and drabs. A clear picture is yet to emerge.
deNur langsam sickern Informationen durch. Ein klares Bild muss sich erst noch abzeichnen.
Origin
From dialectal English drib (compare also drub), a variant from Middle English drepen (“toFrom 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”).
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Forms
dribs, dribbing, dribbed, dribbedWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle