dibble

American  

[dib-uhl] / ˈdɪb əl /

noun

1. Also dibber a small, handheld, pointed implement for making holes in soil for planting seedlings, bulbs, etc.

---

verb (used with object)

• dibbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dibbled,
  past participle,  past
• dibbling
  present participle

1. to make a hole (in the ground) with or as if with a dibble.

2. to set (plants) in holes made with a dibble.

verb (used without object)

• dibbles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dibbled,
  past participle,  past
• dibbling
  present participle

1. to work with a dibble.

dibble ¹ British  

/ ˈdɪbəl /

noun

1. Also called (esp Brit): dibber.  a small hand tool used to make holes in the ground for planting or transplanting bulbs, seeds, or roots

---

verb

1. to make a hole in (the ground) with a dibble

2. to plant (bulbs, seeds, etc) with a dibble

dibble ² British  

/ ˈdɪbəl /

verb

1. a variant of dib

2. a less common word for dabble

---

dibble ³ British  

/ ˈdɪbəl /

noun

1. slang a policeman

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dibbler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• dibbling
  present
• dibbled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dibble
  simple
• dibbles
  simple
• have dibbled
  perfect
• has dibbled
  perfect
• am dibbling
  progressive
• are dibbling
  progressive
• is dibbling
  progressive
• have been dibbling
  perfect progressive
• has been dibbling
  perfect progressive

Past

• dibbled
  simple
• had dibbled
  perfect
• was dibbling
  progressive
• were dibbling
  progressive
• had been dibbling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dibble
  simple
• will have dibbled
  perfect
• will be dibbling
  progressive
• will have been dibbling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of dibble

1325–75; late Middle English, perhaps akin to dib

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dibble dibbles dibbled dibbling

Before I understood how to use my options properly, I used to dibble and dabble with my childhood favorite, Duncan Hines.

From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2024

He picked up an orange metal bar known as a dibble, made a small hole in the bare, orange dirt and put the tree in.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 13, 2020

The volunteers fanned out over the muddy ground, each pair armed with a dibble bar and a bucket of seedlings.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 13, 2020

But I personally like to dibble and dabble and help my teammates make plays, and at the same time make plays myself.”

From Washington Times ● Oct. 14, 2015

I therefore warn every dibble user to be sure to crowd over the soil well, especially at the lower end of the hole.

From Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses by M. G. (Maurice Grenville) Kains

He trolls for fish, and he trolls his lay— He sniggles by night, and he dibbles by day.

From The Book of Humorous Verse by Carolyn Wells

He dibbles by day, and he sniggles by night.

From The Book of Humorous Verse by Carolyn Wells

With a sharpened hook, and a sharper eye, He sniggles and dibbles for what comes by, Oh, who so merry as he!

From The Book of Humorous Verse by Carolyn Wells

Digits existed long before dibbles and they are much more reliable.

From Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses by M. G. (Maurice Grenville) Kains

Flint spud, two drain scoops, bull lead and five dibbles.

From Highways and Byways in Sussex by Frederick Landseer Maur Griggs

So they dibbled a small hole in the turf and buried the piece of toffee.

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis

The cuttings should then be dibbled into the boxes in rows, just clear, the soil being gently pressed around each.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various

An’ if so, for the life o’ ye, ye mustn’t tell him who it was we dibbled into the ground up thar.

From The Death Shot A Story Retold by Mayne Reid

The season for sowing barley is in the spring, and the crop varies according to soil and culture; it is sown either broad-cast, drilled, or dibbled.

From The Botanist's Companion, Volume II by William Salisbury

Like the wheat it was planted or dibbled in rows.

From Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton by Sir John Barrow

Antetokounmpo was pulled by first-year coach Adrian Griffin after a dibbling violation.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2023

Having earlier dismissed his use as moderate dibbling and dabbling, he tells me: “I’ll be completely honest with you. The past couple of albums, I do get back to that.”

From The Guardian ● Dec. 3, 2016

The grain is sown in the middle of the dry season, either broadcast or by dibbling, and reaped in seven or five months, as the grain happens to be the larger or the smaller variety.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

Leucophyton Browni.—A popular white-foliaged bedding plant, which may be increased by dibbling cuttings in sandy soil and placing them in a cool frame.

From Gardening for the Million by Alfred Pink

A considerable amount is raised in the village gardens, but generally it is planted by dibbling in the high land.

From The Tinguian Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe by Fay-Cooper Cole