trickle
verbEtymology From Middle English triklen, likely a rebracketing (e.g. teres strikled > teerys trikled (“tears trickled”)) of Middle English striklen (“to trickle”), equivalent to strike + -le. For other similar cases of incorrect division, see also apron, daffodil, newt, nickname, orange, umpire.
1
to pour a liquid in a very thin stream, or so that drops fall continuously.
- The doctor trickled some iodine on the wound.
2
to flow in a very thin stream or drop continuously.
- Here the water just trickles along, but later it becomes a torrent.
- The film was so bad that people trickled out of the cinema before its end.
2 more examples
- Her white night-dress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man's bare chest which was shown by his torn-open dress.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
- The period of intensive traffic is over by about 5.30 p.m. and for the rest of the evening steadily diminishes, the main activity being the Channel Islands boat trains which trickle in after about 6.30 p.m. and depart again for Weymouth an hour or so later.1962 April, J. N. Faulkner, “Summer Saturday at Waterloo”, in Modern Railways, page 265:
3
To move or roll slowly.
- Some [marbles] were found in a child's grave at Nagada, Egypt […] together with a set of ninepins and three rectangular bricks which could have formed an arch through which to trickle the balls.1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 32:
- They gather one by one, trickling into the shady courtyard, the familiar hum of Mass. Ave. wafting in from behind brick buildings and iron gates.2005 June 9, Michael M. Grynbaum, “An Entryway That Eats Together Stays Together”, in The Harvard Crimson, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2025:
1 more example
- Their only shot of the first period was a long-range strike from top-scorer Ebanks-Blake which trickled tamely wide.2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2025:
- Derived terms
- atrickle, trickle charger, trickledown, trickle down, trickle-down, trickler, tricklesome, trickle truth, trickle-up trend, tricklingly, trickly