(v. t.) To bite by little at a time; to seize gently with the mouth; to eat slowly or in small bits.
(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.
(n.) A small or cautious bite.
Example Sentences:
(1) Within an hour after nibbling a small test meal, the flux of glucose C into total body fatty acids increased 700% in mice previously starved for 24 hr.
(2) By noon, the small fish market on shore is packed with black crows nibbling on hundreds of butchered fish heads, shark fins and long red swordfish tongues.
(3) Across this relatively peaceful corner of the Horn of Africa, where black-headed sheep scamper among the thorn bushes, dainty gerenuk balance on their hind legs to nibble from hardy shrubs, and skinny camels wearing rough-hewn bells lumber over rocky slopes, people long accustomed to a harsh environment find they cannot cope after years of below-average rainfall.
(4) £25 a head for a cocktail, nibbles and three courses.
(5) variable (VH), diversity (DH), and joining (JH), germline gene segments, exonuclease nibbling of the terminals of these gene segments, and the addition of template-independent nucleotide (N-sequences) in the junctions of these segments.
(6) As daylight recedes, men of a certain age sip coffee, nibble on finger dishes or grapple with big round plates of rice and lamb, all the while bouncing opinions back and forth.
(7) It appears that CR caused mice to change from their normal "nibbling behavior" to meal feeding.
(8) Although this effect does not appear to result from antineophobic and anxiolytic effects of this benzodiazepine, very little is known about the possible contribution of stereotyped nibbling and chewing responses to enhanced feeding.
(9) On another, they celebrated her birthday at home with Jill Norman, David's long-time editor, and a bottle of Dom Pérignon, nibbling all the while on her favourite Roka cheese biscuits.
(10) It is concluded that these goats have a feeding habit similar to that of cattle rather than resting their forelimbs on the shrubs while nibbling the leaves as recorded in Asian goats.
(11) The flux of glucose C to TLFA increased by an order of magnitude within an hour after mice nibbled a test meal for several minutes.
(12) It was found that feeding behavior between meals (snacks, nibbling, etc.)
(13) He tried to eat some more of his kebab but was confused and began to nibble on the flyerer's thumb.
(14) As Shallow, he “pecks at the lines, nibbles at them like a parrot biting on a nut; for all his age, he darts here and there nimbly enough, even skittishly: forgetting nothing, not even the pleasure of Falstaff’s page, that ‘little tiny thief’.” But if Tynan was enamoured of Olivier, he was also alert to the miniaturist precision of Alec Guinness.
(15) Comparisons between present-day China and the soulless, dreary totalitarian socialist state immortalised in Orwell's masterpiece are difficult to sustain after seeing clutch after clutch of Chinese teenagers, dressed in the latest quasi-Japanophile fashion, walk down a mobbed Beijing pedestrian shopping arcade nibbling at bouquets of candy floss and prattling on as if the phrase "commodity fetishism" had never crossed their young lips.
(16) Just about everything – from what to serve, to how to eat, nothing brings out more social judgment than nibbles etiquette.
(17) The young Caligula spent six years on the island of Capri, where he often directed and appeared in spectacular pornographic tableaux for his great uncle, the emperor Tiberius – a man it was said, who enjoyed having swimming boys nibble at his private parts.
(18) Recordings were made for 96-h periods, and nibbling bouts were separated from meals according to the time and weight of eating bouts.
(19) We have attempted to measure net changes in lipid content in a discrete "intermuscular" fat pad during rapid lipogenic activation that occurs after a previously fasted mouse nibbles a glucose-rich test meal for several minutes.
(20) A case report is presented of a patient who had liver fibrosis, splenomegaly and ascites, associated with the habit of nibbling tea leaves.
Nimble
Definition:
(superl.) Light and quick in motion; moving with ease and celerity; lively; swift.
Example Sentences:
(1) Van Persie's knee injury meant that Mata could work in tandem with the delightfully nimble Kagawa, starting for the first time since 22 January.
(2) By running a nimble, creative campaign with a youthful staff we connected with those who were new to the Labour party, new to campaigning and often new to politics.
(3) Photograph: Panagiotis Moschandreou for the Guardian The vast majority are Bangladeshis because fruit firms have discovered that they are nimble and can fill crates the most quickly.
(4) He practises two hours a day on his guitar, often just going up and down the scales, playing jazz, keeping his fingers nimble.
(5) Elfin and nimble, Clare had seemingly boundless energy.
(6) The gold was taken by the popular Puch, who performed a nimble routine to Mozart on his horse, Fine Feeling.
(7) Being largely free of credit cards, e-banking and the other “legacy issues” of a paper money system makes them “more nimble” and more open to adopt a different approach.
(8) In truth, however, Marriner's 13th dismissal – that of Ryan Shawcross for twice being outfoxed by more nimble-footed opponents either side of the interval – merely galvanized Stoke.
(9) That would allow them to select Fluker – a 339lbs bulldozer who could start from day one at right tackle, but lacks the nimble feet required to protect a quarterback's blind-side.
(10) Yellen agrees that the size of the Fed's balance sheet is unprecedented today, before nimbly suggesting Milton Friedman as another economist who'd considered the merits of a central bank acting in this way.
(11) This new chapter in American foreign policy will allow us to redirect some of the resources saved by ending these wars to respond more nimbly to the changing threat of terrorism, while addressing a broader set of priorities around the globe,” Obama told reporters on Tuesday after announcing his troop withdrawal timetable for Afghanistan .
(12) As shadow chancellor, while many commentators were patronising him as "Boy George", he used this feel for the game of politics, and his needling, nimble Commons style, to steadily undermine chancellor Brown, who had previously seemed impregnable to Tory attack.
(13) Liverpool go off with a well deserved one-goal lead, courtesy of Daniel Sturridges nimble footwork and splendid finish.
(14) As Shallow, he “pecks at the lines, nibbles at them like a parrot biting on a nut; for all his age, he darts here and there nimbly enough, even skittishly: forgetting nothing, not even the pleasure of Falstaff’s page, that ‘little tiny thief’.” But if Tynan was enamoured of Olivier, he was also alert to the miniaturist precision of Alec Guinness.
(15) Zoom's speech is nimble enough and there's a shot of performance director of British Cycling and the general manager of Team Sky, Dave Brailsford, who for my money, should win Coach of the Year.
(16) A last-minute compromise and some nimble legal footwork gives the chance to repeat the talks next year, but sets no timetable for a deal.
(17) In a Soho record shop, Alfie Allen flicks through the racks of vinyl with nimble fingers.
(18) The first single, Slow Slow, features a tumble of words over cool jazzy guitar chords, video game bleeps, nimble bass and splashy drums, plus a sample of Run DMC circa Peter Piper.
(19) David Lewis (@DG_Lewis) If Blaise does go, look forward to how it's presented + how nimbly Paris and Washington dance around usage of word 'coup' #BurkinaFaso October 30, 2014 Imad Mesdoua (@ImadMesdoua) #Burkina - COS General Honore #Traore still not spoken because of a reported "disagreement" between him and General Kwame #Lougue #Lwili October 30, 2014 Authorities at Dakar airport have also apparently confirmed that Compaoré arrived in Senegal this afternoon after fleeing the country.
(20) MEP (Spanish acronym for Perceptive-stimulative Model) is a visual test whose nimble and simple administration is apt for both individual and group studies.