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Synonyms

trickle

American  
[trik-uhl] / ˈtrɪk əl /

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 British  
/ 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
"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

noun

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

  2. the act of trickling

"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

Other Word Forms

  • trickling adjective
  • tricklingly adverb
  • trickly adjective

Etymology

Origin of trickle

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

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.

Tanker-tracking firms report that traffic through the Persian Gulf remains at a trickle compared with prewar levels.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

"We will likely also begin to see a trickle of vessels going into the Gulf, but those two will not be of the same magnitude."

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

Over the past decade, it’s seen a steady trickle of net outflows, including about $8.8 billion last year.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

The relative trickle of oil passing through the Gulf and the release of oil from reserves is such that, according to Pyziur, belies another potential problem: the lack of fertilizer coming out of Gulf countries.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

They could hear the trickle of water, and Cecilia thought she could smell it too, silvery and sharp.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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.