nibble
Americanverb (used without object)
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to bite off small bits.
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to eat or chew in small bites.
Give him a graham cracker to nibble on.
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to bite, eat, or chew gently and in small amounts (usually followed byat ).
She was so upset she could only nibble at her food.
verb (used with object)
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to bite off small bits of (something).
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to eat (food) by biting off small pieces.
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to bite in small bits.
He nibbled each morsel with great deliberation.
noun
idioms
verb
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(esp of animals, such as mice) to take small repeated bites (of)
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to take dainty or tentative bites
to nibble at a cake
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to bite (at) gently or caressingly
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(intr) to make petty criticisms
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(intr) to consider tentatively or cautiously
to nibble at an idea
noun
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a small mouthful
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an instance or the act of nibbling
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informal (plural) small items of food, esp savouries, usually served with drinks
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nibblesimple
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nibblessimple
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have nibbledperfect
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has nibbledperfect
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am nibblingprogressive
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are nibblingprogressive
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is nibblingprogressive
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have been nibblingperfect progressive
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has been nibblingperfect progressive
Past
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nibbledsimple
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had nibbledperfect
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was nibblingprogressive
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were nibblingprogressive
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had been nibblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nibble
1425–75; late Middle English nebillen to peck away at, nibble, try, perhaps < Middle Low German nibbelen to pick with the beak; cf. nib, -le
Explanation
To nibble is to eat in tiny bites. If you nibble your chocolate chip cookie while your sister gobbles hers quickly, yours will last much longer. Your pet rabbit probably nibbles on the carrots you give him, and he might even nibble, or bite very softly, on your fingers. Any one of these gentle or small bites can be called a nibble. The word probably stems from the Low German nibbeln, "to gnaw."
Vocabulary lists containing nibble
Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
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Moko Magic: Carnival Chaos
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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.
See Examples For:
There are also the legions of sponsors and guests, who follow the race from bleachers at the summit and nibble on petits fours while the competition rages in the background.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
For me, my favorite kid-friendly nibble lives in the frozen aisle: dinosaur-shaped nuggets.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
"But the larger ants seemed to seek the attention of the smaller ants by first visiting their nests and then allowing the small ants to lick and nibble all over them."
From Science Daily ● Apr. 14, 2026
Retired professor Ted Porter, for instance, recalls buying a loaf of his late wife’s favorite bread when the winds first started, thinking he may need something to nibble on if the power went out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026
The Plimpy is not particularly dangerous, though it will nibble the feet and clothing of swimmers.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
Here by the water’s edge, she nibbles on seeds and drinks rainwater, retreating to the house to sleep at night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Not surprisingly, he got all kinds of scholarship offers from top-notch football programs but only nibbles from big-time basketball schools.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2025
An MP accused of flouting Covid-19 rules during a "wine and nibbles" event has been cleared of wrongdoing.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2024
Don’t for a moment be hesitant about putting out store-bought nibbles.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
“You who gets everything? Who comes here and listens to concerts and nibbles chocolates and warms yourself by the fire?”
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
At night, bedbugs nibbled at the 312 people laying like sardines on the floor of Namazi’s section of Ward 4.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
While Trump bloviated about tariffs, the Hispanic Republican Club chair nibbled on dessert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
"What that means is that, in the case of the squirrel, it nibbled on aloe and took those metabolites into its own bloodstream," explained Bromage.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 3, 2026
Stuffed, they nibbled on dessert before Erin stunned her guests with a declaration she had cancer, the trial heard.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2025
It stayed there for a moment, and he could feel the worn place on her thumb where she nibbled at it.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
He also came to treasure his time mowing the fairways each morning before the golfers arrived, the dew glistening on the grass while the nibbling, untroubled deer looked on from the rough.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
With the clouds hovering, rain threatening and pitch nibbling, Robinson was the perfect horse for this course.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
But instead of attacking, the smaller ants climb onto the bigger ones and begin licking and nibbling across their bodies.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 14, 2026
“I don’t even know how to attack it. God, so much to it. Alright, the moment of truth,” Kempczinski says in the clip, before nibbling the sandwich.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 6, 2026
When I look down into the clear water, I see small blue-and-yellow fish nibbling on me.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
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.
