trickle

[trik-uhl]

verb (used without object)

trickled, trickling 

1. to flow or fall by drops, or in a small, gentle stream.

   Tears trickled down her cheeks.

2. to come, go, or pass bit by bit, slowly, or irregularly.

   The guests trickled out of the room.

verb (used with object)

trickled, trickling 

1. to cause to trickle.

noun

1. a trickling flow or stream.

   Synonyms: drip, seepage, dribble

2. a small, slow, or irregular quantity of anything coming, going, or proceeding.

   a trickle of visitors throughout the day.

trickle

/ ˈtrɪkəl /

verb

1. to run or cause to run in thin or slow streams

   she trickled the sand through her fingers

2. (intr) to move, go, or pass gradually

   the crowd trickled away

noun

1. a thin, irregular, or slow flow of something

2. the act of trickling

Other Word Forms

• tricklingly adverb
• trickling adjective
• trickly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of trickle¹

1325–75; Middle English triklen, trekelen (v.), apparently sandhi variant of strikle, perhaps equivalent to strike (in obsolete sense “flow”) + -le

Word History and Origins

Origin of trickle¹

C14: perhaps of imitative origin

Example Sentences

Job growth has slowed to a trickle this year even as the unemployment rate has held mostly steady.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ironically, single-family landlords might need lower mortgage rates to soak up the excess inventory in the for-sale market that is now trickling into rentals.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Industry analysts expressed concerns that if companies started to go bankrupt, a trickle could soon become a flood – potentially causing permanent damage to the country's advanced engineering industry.

Read more on BBC

Now, new completions have trickled to fewer than three a month, less than 20% of that peak period.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A few fans trickled out from behind the store, rejoicing that they’d seen her arrive.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• crawl 
• creep 
• dribble 
• flow 
• leak 
• ooze 
• percolate 
• seep 
• stream