From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnibblenib‧ble1 /ˈnɪbəl/ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]DFEAT to eat small amounts of food by taking very small bites He nibbled the biscuit cautiously.nibble at There’s a fish nibbling at my bait.nibble on He nibbled on a piece of raw carrot.► see thesaurus at bite2 [transitive] to gently bite someone in a loving way He began to nibble her ear affectionately. → nibble away at something→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
nibble• Reyes puts out nuts and bread for squirrels to nibble.• The kind of nose that flirts with the idea of being stroked and kissed and nibbled.• She thinks perhaps small fish are nibbling at her, but it is pleasant, it doesn't hurt.• Once again she threw herself into his arms, unable to control her emotions, and nibbled at his neck.• He reached into the bowl, took out one of the mushrooms and nibbled at its blue surfaces.• Wally took her in his arms and began nibbling her ear.• Creamy, blue-veined Dolcelatte is the perfect way to round off your meals and delicious to nibble in between.• Wally turned to me and began to nibble my car.• They went to wherever there were cut-down branches, nibbling off the buds.• We stood around drinking wine and nibbling on little snacks.• The horse lowered his head and began to nibble the grass.nibblenibble2 noun 1 DFEAT[countable] a small bite of somethingnibble of She took a nibble of her cookie.2 → nibbles3 INTERESTED[singular] a small amount of interest in something We’ve had the house on the market for a month and not even had a nibble yet.Examples from the Corpus
nibble• It's so weak, so dismissive, like the girl's body was a cupcake and you took a nibble.• One of the kids tried a nibble of the bread.• A few licks and attempted nibbles quickly disillusioned him.• We've had a few nibbles from potential buyers.• Sip a Beefeater martini, nibble salted nuts, pray for himself, pray for the world.• They add bulk to your diet and make healthy between-meal nibbles.• But there were no nibbles from Alvin, so Williams joined the Graham company in 1963.• They would sip sherry or port, nibble at the nuts and raisins and allow themselves to wallow in the warm softness.• Giant amphipods, the size of rats, appear out of nowhere to nibble on the remains.Origin nibble1 (1500-1600) Perhaps from Low German nibbeln “to chew bits off”