| 释义 |
▪ I. nibble
obs. or dial. variant of nipple.
▪ II. nibble, n.|ˈnɪb(ə)l|
[f. the vb.]
1. The act or fact of nibbling; an instance of this, esp. on the part of a fish at a bait.
1658Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1102 They seek for the most tender places, and will not attempt the harder places with their nibble. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 61 [To] fish all day..though he should not be encouraged by a single nibble. 1867F. Francis Angling iii. (1880) 51 When you see a nibble do not be in a hurry.
fig.1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 114 To prevent any escape by a nibble in this circle. 1853R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 21 The ladies, to do them justice, are never at all suspicious about men—especially men on the ‘nibble’.
2. A quantity (of grass) sufficient for a nibble.
1838F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 46 The sheep perambulate also, in earnest search of a nibble of fresh herbage. 1860Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. xii, There'll niver be a nibble o' grass to be seen this two month.
b. Pasturage, grass. Cf. bite n. 2 b.
1875Blackmore Alice Lorraine III. v. 67 The moss had come over the herbage, and the sweet nibble of the sheep was souring.
Add:3. A small quantity of food nibbled or consumed as a snack; (usu. in pl.) a morsel or titbit of food, esp. one eaten between meals or with a drink. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1909in Webster. 1968Better Homes & Gardens Jan. 54/1 Appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, canapés, beverages, sweet nibbles, special dips and spreads—you'll find them all here and on the next few pages. 1973N.Y. Times Mag. 2 Dec. 106 It is nice to have a nibble of food in the larder to bring out on occasions like this. 1975Times 12 Apr. 11/2 Fine china and crystal, and fresh nibbles in the bar, are included in the bill. 1987Z. Tomin Coast of Bohemia iii. 78 We ate a huge plate of nibbles.
4. Computing. Also nybble. [Humorously, after byte n.] Half a byte; four bits.
1970H. A. Rodgers Funk & Wagnalls Dict. Data Processing Terms 67/2 Nibble, in programmer slang, a portion of a byte. 1977A. Malvino Digital Computer Electronics 359 We've replaced each 4-bit nibble by a 16-position rotary switch (a byte is 8 bits, a nibble is 4). 1980B. A. Artwick Microcomputer Interfacing 331 Nybble, half a byte. 1983Softline May–June 18/2 The top nibble of AUDCX contains the distortion parameter for the channel, and the bottom nibble contains the volume information. 1987Electronics & Wireless World Jan. 44/1 A nibble selection input assigns the 4-bit a.d.p.c.m. sample to the first or second half of the 8-bit multiplexed time slot.
▪ III. nibble, v.|ˈnɪb(ə)l|
Also 5 nebyll, 6 Sc. nybbill, 6–7 (g)nible.
[Corresponds in form and meaning to LG. nibbelen, also gnibbelen, knibbelen, = Du. knibbelen ‘rodere, mussitare, altercari’ (Kilian), app. an ablaut-variant of knabbelen, knabble v. The immediate source in Eng. is not clear.]
1. a. trans. To take little bites of (a thing), to bite away little by little.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxiii. 93 Thay nybbillit him with noyis and cry. 1548Elyot, Derodo, to gnawe or gnibble. 1591Spenser Virg. Gnat 80 Some, clambring..Nibble the bushie shrubs. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, ccxlviii, Like a Spring-taught Snayle, Was crauling to haue Nibbled the fresh leafe. 1712Steele Spect. No. 431 ⁋3, I then nibbled all the red Wax of our last Ball-Tickets. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 68 One sees the trouts and other fish..nibbling the calves and ox livers with which they are fed. 1817Keats Sleep & Poetry 254 All tenderest birds there..Nibble the little cupped flowers. 1865Knight Passages Work. Life III. iii. 56, I look upon the downs where flocks are peacefully nibbling the thymy grass. 1871Darwin Desc. Man I. iii. 75 Horses nibble, and cows lick, each other on any spot which itches.
transf.c1460Towneley Myst. xxx. 537 The meyn shalle ye nebyll, And I shalle syng the trebill. 1847L. Hunt Men, Women, & Bks. I. ix. 162 [He] would nibble you the beginnings of half the odes of his favourite poet.
b. With complement: To strip from, take off or away, make bare, by means of little bites.
1602Marston Antonio's Rev. Prol., Snarling gusts nibble the juyceles leaves From the nak't shuddring branch. 1617Middleton & Rowley Fair Quarrel v. i, All my baits nibbled off, And not the fish caught. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 591 They frequently nibble away the bait without touching the hook. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. xxxvii. 321 [He] nibbled off the end of a cigar, preparatory to lighting it. 1887T. Hardy Woodlanders vii, The bases of the smaller trees were nibbled bare by rabbits.
c. To bring into (some state or form) by this means. Also fig.
1837Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 280/2 If the Foreign Secretary were to retire, we should no longer be nibbling ourselves into disgrace on the coast of Spain. 1849R. Curzon Monast. Levant viii. 100 The paint brush is made by chewing the end of a reed till it is reduced to filaments and then nibbling it into a proper form.
d. In lens-making: (see nibbling vbl. n. 2).
e. To produce by nibbling.
1867A. J. Evans St. Elmo xxi. 296 Just see what a hole the pretty little wretch has nibbled in my new Swiss muslin dress!
2. a. intr. To take little bites; to eat or feed in this fashion. † Also const. on, with.
1582Stanyhurst æneis Ded. (Arb.) 3 Not onlye by gnibling vpon thee outward ryne of a..historie, but also by groaping thee pyth. 1643Milton Divorce Introd., Wks. 1851 IV. 7 To let them play and nibble with the bait a while. 1678Dryden All for Love Pref., Ess. (ed. Ker) I. 193 Sucking critics, who would fain be nibbling ere their teeth are come. 1746Smollett Reproof 216 Th' unnumber'd shoals of smaller fry, That nibble round, I pity and defy. 1794Cowper Needless Alarm 38 Some [sheep] with soft bosom pressed The herb as soft, while nibbling strayed the rest. 1867F. Francis Angling iii. 64 He cannot make up his mind to leave it, so he nibbles, and nibbles. 1878A. H. Markham Gt. Frozen Sea ii. 28 The ‘wily cod’..could not even be induced to ‘nibble’.
b. Const. at (a thing). Also in fig. contexts, and absol.
1630Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Wh. i. i, His teeth water to be nibbling at my gold. 1660Pepys Diary 4 Nov., Mr. Mills did begin to nibble at the Common Prayer, by saying ‘Glory be to the Father’. 1700C. Nesse Antid. Armin. (1827) 134 The seed of the serpent may nibble at the heels of the seed of the woman. 1873Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue §359 Latin scholarship was, however, continually nibbling away at these monuments of the French reign. 1877M. M. Grant Sun-Maid viii, Nibbling at the sprouting edges of the path. 1921W. J. Locke Mountebank xvi. 208 Moignon was in touch, on his behalf, with powerful American agencies... Moignon had said: ‘They are nibbling for the winter.’ 1973Times 20 Mar. 21/3 Since the Broadspeed Turbo Bullit..was announced in January, motor manufacturers have been nibbling at the idea.
c. To carp (at something), to make trifling objections or criticisms.
a1591H. Smith Serm. (1592) 34 She will be nibling at his praier, and at his studie, and at his meditations, till she haue tyred his deuotions. 1641Milton Reform. ii. Wks. 1851 III. 52, I need not say to nibble, but openly to argue against the King's Supremacie. 1699Bentley Phal. 29 He will nibble at some Passages of this Section, to shew his own great Wit. 1719J. Welwood Pref. to Rowe's Lucan 41 To humour the deprav'd taste of the Age, by nibbling at Scripture, or depreciating things in themselves Sacred. 1788Cowper Priv. Corr. (1824) II. 143, I think I can give you an honest answer to your question, and without the least wish to nibble. 1824Byron Juan xvi. v, Who nibble, scribble, quibble, he Quiets at once with ‘quia impossibile’. 1867Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 162 The small troubles of spirits that nibble and quibble about beliefs living or dead. 1878E. White Life in Christ (ed. 3) Pref. 4 Reviewers have nibbled at phrases and special criticisms, but have avoided the principal questions.
d. Cricket. To play (indecisively) at a ball bowled outside the off stump.
1926P. F. Warner Fight for Ashes 16 Bardsley..showed a distinct weakness in nibbling at good-length balls outside the off-stump. 1932E. Blunden Face of England 71 ‘Tom's out.’ ‘He shouldn't have nibbled at that.’
†3.
a. intr. To fidget or play with the fingers. (Also said of the fingers.) Obs. rare.
1570Levins Manip. 113/25 To Nibble with the fingers, gesticulari. 1573Baret Alv. s.v., To nibble with the fingers, as vnmanerly boyes do with their pointes when they are spoken to. 1577Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed VI. 32 His fingers began to nibble, his teeth to grin.
b. trans. To fidget or play with (a thing).
1829Hogg Sheph. Cal. vii, The hem of her jerkin, which she was nibbling with her hands.
4. slang. To catch, nab; to pilfer.
1608Middleton Trick to catch Old One i. iv, The Roague has spied me now, hee nibled me finely once, too. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Nibble, to pilfer trifling articles, not having spirit to touch any thing of consequence. 1843Moncrieff Scamps of London iii. i, You are spliced—nibbled at last—well, I wish you joy. 1851D. Jerrold St. Giles viii, A nice job I've had to nibble him. |
