Word.ws English Dictionary

dribs and drabs

dribs and drabs noun: a series of negligible amounts.

Noun

dribs and drabs pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) A series of negligible amounts.
    • The tea drinking has done a great deal in bringing this nation into the state [of] misery in which it now is; and the tea drinking, which is carried on by "dribs" and "drabs;" by pence and farthings going out at a time; this miserable practice has been gradually introduced by the growing weight of...1823, William Cobbett, “Brewing Beer”, in Cottage Economy: […], new edition, London: Printed for J. M. Cobbett, […], →OCLC, paragraph 30
    • Passengers join in dribs and drabs along the way, but at Barnsley the numbers really began to swell and by Elsecar we have several standing.2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New infrastructure and new rolling stock”, in Rail, page 48

Synonyms of dribs and drabs

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of dribs and drabs

Forms of dribs and drabs

alternative formdrips and drabs

Origin of dribs and drabs

From drib (“a drop”) and drab (“a small amount”).

Questions about dribs and drabs

What does dribs and drabs mean?
Dribs and drabs means a series of negligible amounts.
What part of speech is dribs and drabs?
Dribs and drabs is a noun.

Words near dribs and drabs in the dictionary

  1. dribbly
  2. dribendazole
  3. driblet
  4. driblets
  5. dribs
  6. dribs and drabs
  7. drider
  8. driders
  9. Dridi
  10. Dridis
  11. drie

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dribs and drabs (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-dribs and drabs.wav.

Cite this entry: “dribs and drabs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dribs_and_drabs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.