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.

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 Steele, Guy L.

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