What does drib mean?
Drib is a small, somewhat old-fashioned English noun meaning a drop of liquid or, by extension, a tiny and often insignificant quantity of anything at all. Someone might note that not a drib of paint is left in the tin, or that only a drib of rain fell overnight. The word belongs to the same family as drip and dribble and is generally understood as a shortened or altered form of those terms, which is why it carries a familiar, almost diminutive sound. Today it survives mainly in informal and regional British speech, though it remains intelligible to most readers. Its connotations are modest and slightly quaint: to call something a drib is to dismiss it as barely worth measuring. While rarely used in formal writing, it is a charming example of how English preserves small, precise words for small, precise amounts.
nounA small drop or tiny amount of liquid; more broadly, a negligible or trifling quantity of anything.
- A small drop of liquid.
- A tiny or insignificant quantity of anything.
"There wasn't a drib of milk left in the jug."
"Only a drib of oil remained in the bottle after months of use."
"He contributed barely a drib of effort to the group project."
The plural is rare but follows regular English inflection; it occasionally appears in the phrase 'dribs and drabs', meaning small irregular amounts.
"Payments arrived in dribs over the course of the month."
Drib is essentially 'drip' wearing its Sunday clothes — an old dialect word that survived because English loves tiny words for tiny amounts.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of drib
Drib arose as a variant or shortened form of drip and dribble, Germanic words imitating the sound of liquid falling in drops. It has been recorded in English since at least the early modern period, primarily in dialectal use, alongside related forms like dribblet and driblet. Its cognates are therefore the native Germanic drip-words rather than borrowings from Latin or Greek.
Related word forms
How drib is actually used
Chiefly British and dialectal in modern usage, with an informal, slightly old-fashioned flavor. It appears most often in negative constructions ('not a drib') and is far rarer than its derivative 'dribble'.
Easily confused with drib
A drip is a single falling drop of liquid or the act of dripping, while a drib is any small residual amount left over.
To dribble means to flow or let fall in small drops (or to move a ball with repeated bounces), whereas a drib is the noun for one such tiny amount.