nibble
nibble Lexical Profile
nibble Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An act of taking a small, gentle bite of something, or the small piece of food bitten off.
"She took a cautious nibble of the spicy cheese before deciding whether she liked it."
A small savory snack or appetizer typically served before a meal or at a social gathering (usually used in the plural).
"The host set out bowls of olives, nuts, and other light nibbles for the guests."
A tentative expression of interest in an offer, proposal, or opportunity.
"Although the house has been on the market for a month, we have only had a few nibbles from potential buyers."
A unit of digital information in computing equal to four bits, or half of an eight-bit byte.
"Each hexadecimal digit represents a single four-bit nibble in binary code."
• verb
To take small, gentle, or repeated bites out of something.
"Rabbits often enter the garden at dawn to nibble on the fresh lettuce leaves."
To show cautious or tentative interest in a proposal, opportunity, or idea.
"Several publishing houses began to nibble at the manuscript after the author won a literary prize."
To gradually wear away, diminish, or reduce something in small increments (usually followed by 'at' or 'away at').
"Rising inflation continued to nibble away at the family's retirement savings."
• Rhymes for nibble
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the late 15th century, likely borrowed from Low German 'nibbeln' (to nibble or gnaw), a frequentative form related to 'nip'. The computing sense meaning 'half a byte' was coined in the late 1950s as a humorous play on 'byte' (homophonous with 'bite').