gribble

American

[grib-uhl] / ˈgrɪb əl /

noun

a small, marine isopod crustacean of the genus Limnoria that destroys submerged timber by boring into it.

gribble British

/ ˈɡrɪbəl /

noun

any small marine isopod crustacean of the genus Limnoria, which bores into and damages wharves and other submerged wooden structures

"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

Etymology

Origin of gribble

First recorded in 1830–40; perhaps akin to grub

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

gribble

At the University of York in the United Kingdom, plant cell-wall biologist Simon McQueen-Mason is investigating the marine wood borer Limnoria quadripunctata, also known as the gribble.

From Nature ● Jun. 22, 2011

This means that the gribble — unlike the termite, which uses its intestinal bacteria to digest wood — must be able to secrete the enzymes needed to convert the wood into its constituent sugars.

From Nature ● Jun. 22, 2011

Noise characters in a data stream are displayed as gribble.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Guy L. Steele

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023