dribs and drabs

American  

plural noun

1. small and usually irregular amounts.

   He repaid the loan in dribs and drabs.

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dribs and drabs British  

/ drɪbz /

plural noun

1. small sporadic amounts

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dribs and drabs Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dribs and drabs

Police kept the demonstrators in the park, with tired-looking protesters let out in dribs and drabs as the light began to fade.

From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026

They should have the candor to admit this openly to Europe, Congress and the American public, rather than do it in stealthy dribs and drabs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

"We've been going for the past 20 years or so. We normally book a year ahead then save up in dribs and drabs," she said.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025

And it's not until more trickles of information started pouring out in dribs and drabs that I started to wonder, "What's the bigger story here, and what actually happened?"

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2024

We were getting dribs and drabs of news from the outside, but nothing like this.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed