trickle

American  

[trik-uhl] / ˈtrɪk əl /

verb (used without object)

trickled, trickling

1. to flow or fall by drops, or in a small, gentle stream.

   Tears trickled down her cheeks.

2. to come, go, or pass bit by bit, slowly, or irregularly.

   The guests trickled out of the room.

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verb (used with object)

trickled, trickling

1. to cause to trickle.

noun

1. a trickling flow or stream.

   Synonyms:

   drip, seepage, dribble

2. a small, slow, or irregular quantity of anything coming, going, or proceeding.

   a trickle of visitors throughout the day.

trickle British  

/ ˈtrɪkəl /

verb

1. to run or cause to run in thin or slow streams

   she trickled the sand through her fingers

2. (intr) to move, go, or pass gradually

   the crowd trickled away

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noun

1. a thin, irregular, or slow flow of something

2. the act of trickling

Other Word Forms

• trickling adjective
• tricklingly adverb
• trickly adjective

Etymology

Origin of trickle

1325–75; Middle English triklen, trekelen (v.), apparently sandhi variant of strikle, perhaps equivalent to strike (in obsolete sense “flow”) + -le

Example Sentences

The attacks have alarmed shipowners, charterers and seafarers, reducing traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle.

From The Wall Street Journal

Likewise, the predicted excess buildup of global inventories was less like a glut and more like a trickle.

From Barron's

Torak heard sounds .of a scuffle -mare snow trickled dawn -then Wolf gave a peevish growl.

From Literature

Iran appears to be allowing select ships through the Strait of Hormuz, freeing a trickle of oil and gas that has helped to keep a lid on global energy prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

The twins’ differences even trickled down to their footwear, Jordan said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• crawl
• creep
• dribble
• flow
• leak
• ooze
• percolate
• seep
• stream