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.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dib dibbed dibbing

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

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 Garrick Mallery

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

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

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 John Clare

Dib, dib, v.i. to dip, as in angling:—pr.p. dib′bing; pa.p. dibbed.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Dib, dib, v.i. to dip, as in angling:—pr.p. dib′bing; pa.p. dibbed.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

The three adults took it in turns to walk in front because the lead person always received the heaviest dumping, as well as having all the hard work of dibbing holes in the snow.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

In remaining six bars of "B," repeat dibbing and tapping as in the first six bars.

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 Cecil J. Sharp

Live wasps are very good for dibbing, Mester Frank, if you know how to handle 'em.

From The MS. in a Red Box by John Arthur Hamilton

In dibbing, almost any kind of fly will answer.

From The Teesdale Angler by R. Lakeland

The act of dibbing consists in thumping the stick firmly on the floor and at once lifting it again.

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 Cecil J. Sharp

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