nibbling
Variant of nibble
nibble
Definition
nib·ble (nib′əl)
transitive verb nibbled -·bled, nibbling -·bling
- to eat (food) with quick bites, taking only a small amount at a time, as a mouse does
- to bite at with small, gentle bites
Etymology: LME nebyllen, prob. akin to MLowG nibbelen: for IE base see nip
intransitive verb
- to take small, cautious, or gentle bites: usually with at
- to show little interest in food by taking only small bites intermittently: usually with at
noun
- a small bite, morsel, or quantity
- the act or an instance of nibbling
nibbling
Usage Examples
Object
- grass: For a long moment he concentrated on the miniature donkey nibbling the grass around the wooden zebra.
Modifying Another Word
- just: Just nibbling the base of the kelp stems enabled the next storm to carry them away.
Followed by an intransitive particle
- away: As soon as it finds one - it starts nibbling away at the base of one of the starfish's arms.
