nibble

6 definitions found

nibble - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  nibble \nib"ble\, n.
     1. A small or cautious bite.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Hence: (Fig.) An expression of interest, often tentative,
        as at the beginning of a sale or negotiation process.
        [PJC]

  Nibble \Nib"ble\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nibbled; p. pr. & vb. n.
     Nibbling.] [Cf. Nip.]
     To bite by little at a time; to seize gently with the mouth;
     to eat slowly or in small bits.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

  Nibble \Nib"ble\, v. t.
     To bite upon something gently or cautiously; to eat a little
     of a thing, as by taking small bits cautiously; as, fishes
     nibble at the bait.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Instead of returning a full answer to my book, he
           manifestly falls a-nibbling at one single passage.
                                                    --Tillotson.
     [1913 Webster]

nibble - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  nibble
      n 1: a small byte [syn: nybble, nibble]
      2: gentle biting
      v 1: bite off very small pieces; "She nibbled on her cracker"
      2: bite gently; "The woman tenderly nibbled at her baby's ear"
      3: eat intermittently; take small bites of; "He pieced at the
         sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal--she just
         nibbles" [syn: nibble, pick, piece]

nibble - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  nibble
  nybble
  
     <data> /nib'l/ (US "nybble", by analogy with "bite" -> "byte")
     Half a byte.  Since a byte is nearly always eight bits, a
     nibble is nearly always four bits (and can therefore be
     represented by one hex digit).
  
     Other size nibbles have existed, for example the BBC Microcomputer
      disk file system used eleven bit sector numbers
     which were described as one byte (eight bits) and a nibble
     (three bits).
  
     Compare crumb, tayste, dynner; see also bit, nickle,
     deckle.
  
     The spelling "nybble" is uncommon in Commonwealth Hackish as
     British orthography suggests the pronunciation /ni:'bl/.
  
     (1997-12-03)
  

nibble - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  48 Moby Thesaurus words for "nibble":
     and sinker, be a sucker, be taken in, bite, bolus, champ, chaw,
     chew, chew the cud, chew up, chomp, cud, devour, eat up, fall for,
     gnash, gnaw, go for, gob, gobble up, grind, gulp down, gum, lap up,
     line, masticate, morsel, mouth, mouthful, mumble, munch, nip, nosh,
     peck, peck at, pick, pick at, quid, ruminate, snack, snap, swallow,
     swallow anything, swallow hook, swallow whole, swing at,
     take the bait, tumble for