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

This is the term used in the dance, as it is used in field and garden work, for making a hole with a dib, or dibber, in the soil, into which the seed is dropped.

From The Morris Book, Part 1 A History of Morris Dancing, With a Description of Eleven Dances as Performed by the Morris-Men of England by Sharp, Cecil J.

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

"That's all you know about it," he said carelessly, as he shut one eye and took steady aim at the "dib" in the ring, "I've had two."

From Purple Springs by McClung, Nellie L.

Trí sóir dogníat dóeru díb féin: tigerna renas a déiss, rígan téite co haithech, mac filed léces a cheird. daoir dib fein N des N deissi L teid N treiges a cerd N 168.

From The Triads of Ireland by Meyer, Kuno