The verb is derived from Late Middle English nebillen, nebyll (“to peck away at (something), nibble; (figurative) to attempt to sing (a part of a song)”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Middle Low German nibbelen (“to eat in small bites, peck”) (modern German Low German nibbeln, gnibbeln, knibbeln), possibly a variant of knabbelen, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press”) or imitative. The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Middle Dutch cnibbelen (modern Dutch knibbelen (“to gnaw; to murmur”), nibbelen (“to nibble”)) * Saterland Frisian nibje (“to nibble”) * West Frisian knibbelje
To take a small, quick bite, or several of such bites, of (something).
The rabbit nibbled the lettuce.
His little Goats gan driue out of their ſtalls, / To feede abroad, vvhere paſture beſt befalls. / […] / Some clambring through the hollovv cliffes on hy, / Nibble the buſhie ſhrubs, vvhich grovve thereby.1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Virgils Gnat”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC, signature H2, verso:
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I then nibbled all the red wax of our last ball-tickets, […]1712 July 25 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “MONDAY, July 15, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 431; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 130:
Dire Ills, it ſeems! their Gods denounce in Rage; / And Garlick only, can their Gods aſſvvage. / Thrice then, each Morn, (for thrice the Povvers direct) / Garlick thou nibbleſt, vvith devout Reſpect.1751, Persius, “The Fifth Satire of Persius”, in [Thomas Brewster], transl., The Satires of Persius Translated into English Verse: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 123, lines 395–398:
A silent space with ever sprouting green. / All the tenderest birds there find a pleasant screen, / Creep through the shade with jaunty fluttering, / Nibble the little cupped flowers and sing.1816 (date written), John Keats, “Sleep and Poetry”, in Poems, London: […] [Charles Richards] for C[harles] & J[ames] Ollier, […], published 3 March 1817, →OCLC; reprinted in Poems (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, 1927, →OCLC, page 113:
Where every stream in its pent-house / Goes gurgling on its way, / And in his gallery the mouse / Nibbleth the meadow hay; […]1843 October, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “A Winter Walk”, in [Ralph Waldo Emerson; Sophia Thoreau], editors, Excursions, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1863, →OCLC, page 125:
2
To lightly bite (a person or animal, or part of their body), especially in a loving or playful manner; to nip.
My hand, as it hangs down, thou nibblest tenderly, […]1837, Alphonse de Lamartine, “Ninth Epoch”, in F[rances] H[enrietta] Jobert, transl., Jocelyn: An Episode […], Paris: Baudry, […], →OCLC, page 350:
Social animals perform many little services for each other: horses nibble, and cows lick each other, on any spot which itches: […]1871, Charles Darwin, “Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals—continued”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part I (On the Descent of Man), pages 74–75:
3
To make (a hole in something) through small bites.
4
To make (one's way) through or while taking small bites.
Before he realized it, he had nibbled his way through a whole bag of potato chips.
The cows nibbled their way across the field.
5
Chiefly followed by into or to: to cause (something) to be in a certain state through small bites.
The bases of the smaller trees were nibbled bare by rabbits, […]1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, chapter VII, in The Woodlanders […], volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 129:
The grass had been nibbled short and even, so this stretch was not shaggy and red like the surrounding country, but gray and velvety.1918 September, Willa Sibert Cather, chapter VII, in My Ántonia, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, book I (The Shimerdas), page 49:
6
Followed by away, off, etc.: to remove (something) through small bites.
The ravviſh danke of clumzie vvinter ramps / The fluent ſummers vaine: and drizling ſleete / Chilleth the vvan bleak cheek of the numd earth, / VVhilſt ſnarling guſts nibble the iuyceles leaues, / From the nak't ſhuddring branch; […]1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], “The Prologue”, in Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde [by Matthew Lownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature A2, recto:
Am I reiected, all my baites nibled off, / And not the fiſh caught?c. 1614–1617 (date written), Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, A Faire Quarrell. […], London: […] [George Eld] for I[ohn] T[rundle] and are to bee sold [by Edward Wright] […], published 1617, →OCLC, Act V, signature H4, verso:
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Y[oung] Lar[oon]. I am ſure our Bait is good—A fine VVoman is as good a Bait for a Prieſt-trap, as toaſted Cheeſe is for a Mouſe-trap. / Old Lar[oon]. Yes, but the Raſcal vvill nibble off tvventy Baits before you can take him.1732 June 11 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Henry Fielding, The Old Debauchees. A Comedy. […], London: […] J. W[atts a]nd sold by J. Roberts […], published 1732, →OCLC, Act III, scene viii, pages 35–36:
They had been silent for some minutes when Broughton took his cigar-case out of his pocket, and nibbled off the end of a cigar, preparatory to lighting it.1867, Anthony Trollope, “Hook Court”, in The Last Chronicle of Barset. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 321:
7
To remove (small pieces) from glass, tile, etc., with a tool; also, to remove small pieces from (glass, tile, etc.) with a tool.
8
Obsolete To fidget or play with (something), especially with the fingers or hands.
Ellen stood dumb and motionless, looking steadfastly down at the hem of her green jerkin, which she was nibbling with both her hands.1827 August, James Hogg, “The Laird of Cassway”, in The Shepherd’s Calendar. […], volume I, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, published 1829, →OCLC, page 185:
[T]he Roague has ſpied me novv, hee nibled me finely once too; […]c. 1604–1606 (date written), [Thomas Middleton], A Trick to Catch the Old-one. […], London: […] George Eld, […], published 1608, →OCLC, Act I, signature B3, verso:
Chiefly followed by at, away, or on: to take a small, quick bite, or several of such bites; to eat (at frequent intervals) with small, quick bites.
The rabbit nibbled at the lettuce.
What deepe and rare pointes of hiddẽ [hidden] secrets Virgil hathe sealde vp in hys twelue bookes of Aeneis, maye easily appeare to such reaching wits, as bend their endeuours, to the vnfolding thereof; not only by gnibling vpon the outwarde rine of a supposed historie, but also by groaping the pyth, that is shrind vp within the barke and bodie of so exquisit and singular a discourse.1582, Richard Stanyhurst, “To the Right Honourable My Very Loving Brother the Lorde Baron of Dunsanye”, in Virgil, translated by Richard Stanyhurst, The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished as The First Four Books of the Æneid of Virgil, […], Edinburgh: [Edinburgh Printing Company], 1836, →OCLC, page xxvii:
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I doo but yet angle with a silken flye, to see whether Martins will nibble; and if I see that, why then I have wormes for the nonce, and will giue them line enough like a trowte, till they swallow both hooke and line, and then Martin beware your gilles, for Ile make you daunce at the poles end.[1589], [John Lyly], “To the Father and the Two Sonnes, Huffe, Ruffe, and Snuffe, […]”, in Pappe with an Hatchet. Alias, A Figge for My God Sonne. […], London: […] Iohn Anoke, and Iohn Astile, for the Bayliue of Withernam [T. Orwin], […], →OCLC; republished as Pap with a Hatchet, London: John Petheram, […], 1844, →OCLC, pages 8–9:
He vvill rob me, his teeth vvater to be nibbling at my gold, but this ſhal hang him by'th gills, till I pull him on ſhore.1604 or 1605 (date written), Thomas Dekker, The Second Part of The Honest Whore, […], London: […] Elizabeth All-de, for Nathaniel Butter, published 1630, →OCLC, Act I, signature H2, verso:
Go daughters vvith your Angels to the brooke, / And ſee if any ſiluer-coated fiſh, / VVill nibble at your vvorme-embovveld hooks: […]1608, Iohn Day [i.e., John Day], Humour out of Breath. A Comedie […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Iohn Helmes, […], →OCLC, Act I, signature [B3], verso:
[L]et them play and nibble vvith the bait a vvhile; […]1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], “To the Parlament of England, with the Assembly”, in The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
12
To lightly bite, especially in a loving or playful manner.
He nibbled at my neck and made me shiver.
13
Figuratively Chiefly followed by at: to show slight interest in something, such as a commercial opportunity or a proposal.
[W]hy mouſe, thy minde is nibbling at ſomething, vvhats iſt, vvhat lyes vpon thy Stomach?c. 1607–1610 (date written), Thomas Middleton; Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girle. Or Moll Cut-purse. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Archer, […], published 1611, →OCLC, [Act III], signature F2, recto:
14
Figuratively Followed by away at: to reduce or use up gradually; to eat.
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."2011 May 11, Ann Carrns, “Prepaid cards subject jobless to host of fees”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Oct 2019:
Road, TransportFiguratively Synonym of tramline (“of a vehicle: to tend to follow the contours of the ground with its wheels”).
17
Obsolete To fidget or play, especially with the fingers or hands.
[S]he was with childe in hir huſbande his abſence, or that hir louer vſed hir fondly in open preſence, as the preſumption was not onely vehement, but alſo the fact too too apparent. Hir vnfortunat huſband had not ſooner notice gyuen him vpon his returne of theſe ſorowfull newes, then his fingers began to nibble, hys teeth to grinne, hys eyes to trickle, his eares to dindle, his heade to dezell, in ſomuch as his heart being ſkeared wyth ialouſie, & his wits enſtalde through Phrenſie, he became as madde, as a marche hare.1577, Richard Stanyhurst [i.e., Richard Stanihurst], “[The Historie of Irelande […].] A Treatise Contayning a Playne and Perfect Description of Irelande, […].”, in Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, folio 14, recto, column 1:
18
Obsolete Chiefly followed by at: to make insignificant complaints; to carp, to cavil, to find fault.
Nay more, have not some of their devoted Schollers begun, I need to saw to nibble, but openly to argue against the Kings Supremacie?1641 May, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Causes that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC; republished in Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC, page 56:
But hovvever he vvill nibble at ſome Paſſages of this Section, to ſhevv his ovvn great VVit; though he borrovvs another Man's great reading.1699, Richard Bentley, “A Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris”, in A Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris. With an Answer to the Objections of the Honourable Charles Boyle, Esquire, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for Henry Mortlock […], and John Hartley […], →OCLC, page 29:
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But Saint Augustine has the great priority, / Who bids all men believe the impossible, / Because 'tis so. Who nibble, scribble, quibble, he / Quiets at once with "quia impossibile."1824 March 26, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos XV. and XVI., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and H[enry] L[eigh] Hunt, […], →OCLC, canto XVI, stanza V, page 63:
Deep-reaching doubt and "large discourse" are poetical; so is faith, so are sorrow and joy; but so are not the small troubles of spirits that nibble and quibble about beliefs living or dead; […]1867 October 1, Algernon Charles Swinburne, “Matthew Arnold’s New Poems”, in Essays and Studies, London: Chatto and Windus, […], published 1875, →OCLC, page 162:
Hart I vvould giue but too much money to be nibling vvith that vvench, […]c. 1607–1610 (date written), Thomas Middleton; Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girle. Or Moll Cut-purse. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Archer, […], published 1611, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature D, verso:
Sec[retary to the Dutchess]. […] A ſpirited Lady, vvould I had her in my cloſet, […] Exit. / Cel[inda]. I do ſuſpect this fellovv vvould be nibling / Like ſome vvhoſe narrovv fortunes vvill not riſe / To vvear things vvhen the inventions rare, and nevv, / But treading on the heel of pride, they hunt / The faſhion vvhen tis crippled, like fell tyrants; […]1641 December 5 (date licensed; Gregorian calendar), James Shirley, The Cardinal, a Tragedie, […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson […], and Humphrey Moseley […], published 1652, →OCLC, Act IV, page 39:
The verb is derived from Late Middle English nebillen, nebyll (“to peck away at (something), nibble; (figurative) to attempt to sing (a part of a song)”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Middle Low German nibbelen (“to eat in small bites, peck”) (modern German Low German nibbeln, gnibbeln, knibbeln), possibly a variant of knabbelen, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press”) or imitative. The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Middle Dutch cnibbelen (modern Dutch knibbelen (“to gnaw; to murmur”), nibbelen (“to nibble”)) * Saterland Frisian nibje (“to nibble”) * West Frisian knibbelje
1
An act of taking a small, quick bite, or several of such bites, especially with the front teeth; the bite or bites so taken.
[H]e would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and heavy as a Tartar's lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even though he should not be encouraged by a single nibble.1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Rip Van Winkle”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 63:
2
A light bite of a person or animal, or part of their body, especially one which is loving or playful; a nip.
3
An amount of food that is or can be taken into the mouth through a small bite; a small mouthful.
Yo'r sheep will be a' folded, a reckon, Measter Pratt, for there'll ne'er be a nibble o' grass to be seen this two month, according to my reading; […]1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “New Year’s Fête”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 268:
4
Figuratively A slight show of interest in something, such as a commercial opportunity or a proposal.
5
Obsolete, Rare Grass or other vegetation eaten by livestock; forage, pasturage.
On the northern slopes of the light-earthed hills the moss had come over the herbage, and the sweet nibble of the sheep was souring.1875, Richard Doddridge Blackmore, “Going Up the Tree”, in Alice Lorraine. A Tale of the South Downs. […], volume III, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle, […], →OCLC, page 67:
Etymology A pun on the homophony of byte and bite.
1
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A unit of memory equal to half a byte, or chiefly four bits.
I own several abaci and two books on how to use them, but they all have four counters below the bar and one counter above it. […] The bottom four counters of each abacus can be used to represent a "nybble," and the upper counter on each can be used for parity.1978 May 22, William B. Adams, “Letters to the Editor: Query on Abacus”, in E. Drake Lundell Jr., editor, Computerworld: The Newsweekly for the Computer Community, volume XII, number 21, Newton, Mass.: CW Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 26, column 4:
At every negative-going transition it reads a 4-bit ADPCM nybble (there are 2 nybbles per byte) and stores it in a memory-resident table.1983 June, Steve Ciarcia, “Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar: Use ADPCM for Highly Intelligible Speech Synthesis”, in Lawrence J. Curran, editor, Byte: The Small Systems Journal, volume 8, number 6, Peterborough, N.H.: Byte Publications, McGraw-Hill, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 41, column 1:
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Data is being received by a system in serial sequences of four bit nybbles. (A nybble is usually defined as a four bit grouping.) […] Our mission, should we decide to accept it, is to test each nybble and determine whether or not the four bits constitute a valid BCD (8421) number.1985, Ronald C. Emery, “General Sequential Circuitry”, in Digital Circuits: Logic and Design (Electrical Engineering and Electronics; 25), New York, N.Y.; Basel, Basel-Stadt: Marcel Dekker, →ISBN, page 171:
Each pixel has an integer gray scale value associated with it to indicate its shade of gray. […] Gray scale values can be stored in either 4 bits (nibble) or 8 bits (byte).1991 September, W. Rick Smith, Greg L[ynn] Somers, “Photographing, Scanning, and Editing an Image”, in SUNSHINE: A Light Environment Simulation System Based on Hemispherical Photographs (Research Paper SO-267), New Orleans, La.: Southern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 2, column 2:
That is, the lower nibble (the 4 bits 1010 = A) has been masked to zero.1993, Richard E. Haskell, Introduction to Computer Engineering: Logic Design and the 8086 Microprocessor, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, →ISBN, page 287:
Similarly, it's easy to convert a binary number such as %1100011010110010 into its hexadecimal equivalent. All we have to do is to split the binary value into 4-bit nybbles and to map each nybble onto its corresponding hexadecimal digit.2005, Clive “MAX” Maxfield, Alvin Brown, The Definitive Guide to How Computers Do Math […], Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 20: