nib
Americannoun
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the point of a pen, or either of its divisions.
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a penpoint for insertion into a penholder.
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a point of anything.
a cutting tool with a diamond nib.
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a bill or beak, as of a bird; neb.
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any pointed extremity.
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Metallurgy.
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a piece of sintered tungsten carbide used as a die for drawing wire or the like.
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(in powder metallurgy) a compact at any stage of its manufacture.
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noun
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the writing point of a pen, esp an insertable tapered metal part with a split tip
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a point, tip, or beak
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(plural) crushed cocoa beans
verb
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to provide with a nib
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to prepare or sharpen the nib of
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nib
1575–85; perhaps variant of neb; compare Dutch nib, Middle Low German nibbe (variant of nebbe ) beak, Old Norse nibba sharp point. See nibble
Explanation
A nib is the point of a thing, such as a spear. More commonly it means the point of a pen, especially a fountain pen. Before ball points were invented, a common student problem was a pen with a broken nib. The word nib comes from a 16th century word meaning the beak of a bird. In more modern times, nib has come to refer to the pieces of the cocoa bean that remain after it has been hulled, roasted, and crushed. Cocoa nibs are the very essence of what we think as chocolate, and yet, ironically, the cocoa nib needs sugar and cocoa butter to temper its bitterness.
Vocabulary lists containing nib
100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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"The Witches" by Roald Dahl, Chapters 1–5
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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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.
Matt Lubchansky, a queer nonbinary cartoonist for the Nib who was a Herblock Prize finalist last year for work reflective “of a new generation,” is among the artists considering that question.
From Washington Post • Feb. 16, 2021
I get stuck working on the last panel for the rough draft of my comic for The Nib.
From New York Times • Jul. 10, 2020
I kept working other jobs until the fall of 2013 when Matt Bors at The Nib contacted me to reprint a strip of mine that had gone moderately viral-ish on Twitter, and then hired me.
From The Verge • Apr. 5, 2019
ADF filed suit against the law on behalf of Brush & Nib Studio, a for-profit business that sells cards and decorations for, among other special events, weddings.
From Slate • Jun. 7, 2018
It was as useless for him to struggle as it was for Nib.
From That Lass O' Lowrie's 1877 by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
