drizzle
[driz-uh l]
- to rain gently and steadily in fine drops; sprinkle: It drizzled throughout the night.
- to fall in fine drops.
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- to pour in a fine stream: Drizzle melted butter over the breadcrumb topping.
- to rain or let fall in fine drops or particles; sprinkle: He then drizzled grated cheese over the hot pasta.
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- a very light rain.
- Meteorology. precipitation consisting of numerous minute droplets of water less than 1/50 (0.02) inch (0.5 mm) in diameter.
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Origin of drizzle
1535–45; perhaps back formation from dryseling, dissimilated variant of Middle English drysning fall (of dew); akin to Old English drēosan to fall; cognate with Old Saxon driosan, Gothic driusan
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for drizzly
Contemporary Examples
But a drizzly ten minutes later, an exuberantly overweight man with a bright-red face suddenly roared his taxi around the corner.
On a drizzly morning in Cape Cod, all talk of birthers and beer summits was silenced as hundreds said goodbye to a fallen soldier.
One hears that the globe is warming but we see little evidence of it here in drizzly London.
Historical Examples
The shops were not yet all lighted, and a drizzly rain was falling.
Wilfrid CumbermedeGeorge MacDonald
Her hair wet with the drizzly atmosphere hung about her face.
Toward noon the rain turned to a drizzly snow, and finally ceased.
The U.P. TrailZane Grey
Though a drizzly, sleety day, it did not dampen our ardor—nor that of the mosquitos.
In Search of a Siberian KlondikeHomer B. Hulbert
When the morning came, dark and drizzly, she found it hard to keep her word.
The Hallowell PartnershipKatharine Holland Brown
drizzle
- very light rain, specifically consisting of droplets less than 0.5 mm in diameter
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- (intr) to rain lightly
- (tr) to moisten with tiny droplets
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Word Origin
Old English drēosan to fall; related to Old Saxon driosan, Gothic driusan, Norwegian drjōsa
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for drizzly
drizzle
v.
1540s, perhaps an alteration of drysning "a falling of dew" (c.1400), from Old English -drysnian, related to dreosan "to fall," from PIE root *dhreu- (see drip (v.)). Or perhaps a frequentative of Middle English dresen "to fall," from Old English dreosan. Related: Drizzled; drizzling. As a noun, from 1550s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper