drib

D2R1I1B3
/ˈdɹɪb/

verb

To cut off; chop off.

Similar
dropdriblet
OriginMiddle English drepen ← Old English drepan ← Proto-Germanic *drepaną →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

drib1

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

present singular third person dribs · participle present dribbing · participle past dribbed · past dribbed

  1. transitiveTo cut off; chop off.
  2. transitiveTo cut off little by little; cheat by small and reiterated tricks; purloin.
  3. transitiveTo entice step by step.

    With daily Lies ſhe dribs thee into Coſt; / That Ear-ring dropt a Stone, that Ring is loſt: / They often borrow what they never pay; / What e'er you lend her think it thrown away.

    a. 1701, [John] Dryden, “Book I”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Art of Love. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1709, →OCLC, page 32
  4. To appropriate unlawfully; to embezzle.

    He who drives their bargains dribs a part.

    1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, Charles Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Seventh Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC
  5. transitivearcheryTo shoot directly at short range.
  6. intransitivearcheryTo shoot at a mark at short range.
  7. transitivearcheryTo shoot (a shaft) so as to pierce on the descent.

    Not at first sight, nor with a dribbèd shot, / Love gave the wound […]

    The New Arcadia

    c. 1580s, Philip Sidney, “Astrophel and Stella”, in [Mary Sidney], editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia […] [The New Arcadia], 3rd edition, London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1598, →OCLC, sonnet 2, page 519
  8. UKdialectaltransitiveTo beat; thrash; drub.
  9. UKdialectaltransitiveTo scold.
  10. UKdialectaltransitivemarblesTo strike another player's marble when playing from the trigger.

drib2

noundrib (plural dribs)

plural dribs

  1. obsoleteA drop.

    squandering his money in dribs to the poor

    a. 1772, Rupert Barber, An Answer to the Christmas-Box

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna small indefinite quantity (especially of a liquid)

Similar
dropdriblet
Broader
small indefinite quantitysmall indefinite amount
Also see
dribletdrop

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

drib · verb

  1. Proto-Germanic*drepaną“to hit, strike”
  2. Old Englishdrepan“to strike, kill, overcome”
  3. Middle Englishdrepen“to hit, strike, slay”
  4. Englishdrib

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 words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

drib · noun

From a variant of drip.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with drib

libcribribnibbibglibtribsibjibbibbgibHibtibsquibchibBzybcut of one's jibdybprime ribsnibspareribvib.
All rhymes →

Anagrams

bird
Cite this entry
APA

drib. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drib

MLA

“drib.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drib. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “drib,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drib.

Source: drib on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.