dib

American  

[dib] / dɪb /

verb (used without object)

dibbed, dibbing

1. to fish by letting the bait bob lightly on the water.

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dib British  

/ dɪb /

verb

1. (intr) to fish by allowing the bait to bob and dip on the surface

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Etymology

Origin of dib

1600–10; expressive word akin to dab ¹, dip ¹, bob ¹, etc.

Example Sentences

He does not dib at it and give the trowel back to the mason, but sets to work methodically.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Peggy Peggy said good morning and I said good bye, When farmers dib the corn and laddies sow the rye.

From Poems Chiefly from Manuscript by Clare, John

The difficulty disappears if we assume the root tib or dib to have been originally the phonetic equivalent of a gesture expressive of the notion of covering as well as of that of measuring.

From Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-1880, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 263-552 by Mallery, Garrick

By proceeding quietly I could "dib" the fly over the fish.

From Lines in Pleasant Places Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler by Senior, William

"The dib is making a fuss about nothing, bad business," said Saint-Avit.

From Atlantida by Benôit, Pierre