1[intransitiveI, transitiveT]DFEAT to eat small amounts of food by taking very small bites 啃;一点一点地咬[吃]
He nibbled the biscuit cautiously.
他小心地啃着饼干。
nibble at
There’s a fish nibbling at my bait.
有条鱼正在咬我的鱼饵。
nibble on
He nibbled on a piece of raw carrot.
他啃着一根生胡萝卜。
► see thesaurus at bite →4 See picture of 见图 BITE 1
2[transitiveT] to gently bite someone in a loving way 轻咬
He began to nibble her ear affectionately.
他开始深情地轻咬她的耳朵。
3nibble away at somethingphrasal verbphr vREDUCEto take away small amounts of something so that the total amount is gradually reduced 慢慢地削弱;蚕食
All these expenses are nibbling away at our savings.
所有这些开支正在一点一点地耗掉我们的积蓄。
The Scottish National Party is beginning to nibble away at Labour’s majority.
苏格兰民族党正开始一步步削弱工党的多数派地位。
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 bluesurfaces.• 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 horselowered his head and began to nibble the grass.
3INTERESTED[singular] a small amount of interest in something 对某事略微的兴趣
We’ve had the house on the market for a month and not even had a nibble yet.
我们把房子挂牌出售一个月了,至今仍无人问津。
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 attemptednibbles quickly disillusioned him.• We've had a few nibbles from potentialbuyers.• Sip a Beefeatermartini, nibblesalted 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.
Originnibble1
(1500-1600) Perhaps from Low Germannibbeln“to chew bits off”