morsel

[mawr-suhl]

noun

1. a bite, mouthful, or small portion of food, candy, etc.

2. a small piece, quantity, or amount of anything; scrap; bit.

3. something very appetizing; treat or tidbit.

4. a person or thing that is attractive or delightful.

verb (used with object)

1. to distribute in or divide into tiny portions (often followed byout ).

   to morsel out the last pieces of meat.

morsel

/ ˈmɔːsəl /

noun

1. a small slice or mouthful of food

2. a small piece; bit

3. informal,  a term of endearment for a child

Word History and Origins

Origin of morsel¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French, equivalent to mors a bite (< Latin morsum something bitten off, noun use of neuter of morsus, past participle of mordēre to bite) + -el < Latin -ellus diminutive suffix; -elle

Word History and Origins

Origin of morsel¹

C13: from Old French, from mors a bite, from Latin morsus, from mordēre to bite

Example Sentences

This is because over time it builds up a wider picture by piecing together the morsels it may extract from a wide range of people.

Read more on BBC

When she had licked the last bloodred morsels of borscht from her whiskers, the wolf swept her shining eyes ’round the room.

Read more on Literature

The last tasty morsels were already in her mouth.

Read more on Literature

“This is like having a conversation with the Riddler. Could you please get to the point and say something that actually makes sense? Even if it’s just, like, a teeny-tiny morsel of sense?”

Read more on Literature

The cattle shortage has led companies to try to cut costs and scrape every morsel of meat off each cattle carcass.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• chunk 
• crumb 
• hunk 
• mouthful 
• snack 
• tidbit