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dribs and drabs
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plural noun
small and usually irregular amounts: He repaid the loan in dribs and drabs.
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Words nearby dribs and drabs
Dreyfusard, DRG, drib, dribble, driblet, dribs and drabs, driech, dried, dried-fruit beetle, dried-up, driegh
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for dribs and drabs
dribs and drabs
/ (drɪbz) /
pl n
small sporadic amounts
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with dribs and drabs
dribs and drabs
Bits and pieces, negligible amounts, as in There's not much left, just some dribs and drabs of samples. The noun drib is thought to be a shortening of driblet, for “drop” or “tiny quantity,” dating from the early 1700s, whereas drab meaning “a small sum of money” dates from the early 1800s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.