drib

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English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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).

Verb

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

Etymology 2

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From a variant of drip.

Noun

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drib (plural dribs)

  1. (obsolete) A drop.
    • a. 1772, Rupert Barber, An Answer to the Christmas-Box:
      squandering his money in dribs to the poor
Derived terms
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Anagrams

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