trickle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to flow or fall by drops, or in a small, gentle stream.
Tears trickled down her cheeks.
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to come, go, or pass bit by bit, slowly, or irregularly.
The guests trickled out of the room.
verb (used with object)
verb
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to run or cause to run in thin or slow streams
she trickled the sand through her fingers
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(intr) to move, go, or pass gradually
the crowd trickled away
noun
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a thin, irregular, or slow flow of something
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the act of trickling
Other Word Forms
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
Explanation
To trickle is to weakly flow out of something, like a faucet. A trickle is like a drip. There are a lot of ways water can flow, but one type of slow dripping is called trickling. If your shower is only releasing a trickle of water, you're not going to get much of a shower. If it's raining — but only a trickle — you might not need an umbrella. A slightly leaky roof is trickling. A trickle is the opposite of a downpour or flood. Trickling can also be called dribbling.
Vocabulary lists containing trickle
Vocabulary: A Rapper's Delight!
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Chuck Berry (1926-2017) Tribute List
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Lyrical Vocabulary, Volume II
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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.
Can you detect a discernible aesthetic difference between, say, Trickle and Viper, two popular bots in the scene?
From The Verge • May 25, 2022
The Trickle Down Effect This one-hour special hosted by journalist Sarah Pilla and meteorologist Robert Santos looks at how rising temperatures, wildfires and drought impact Southern California’s water supply.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2022
Dick Trickle is the oldest Xfinity Series pole winner in track history, qualifying first at 57 years, 7 months, 9 days in summer 1999.
From Reuters • May 2, 2019
Watt was raised in Wisconsin and said a seventh-grade teacher turned him onto the sport, specifically former driver Dick Trickle.
From Washington Times • Feb. 17, 2019
Trickle when there ain't a bit of sense in it.
From Miss Gibbie Gault by Bosher, Kate Langley
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.
