different between dabble vs dibble

English

Etymology

From earlier dable, equivalent to dab +? -le (frequentative suffix), possibly from Middle Dutch dabbelen (“to pinch; knead; to fumble; to dabble”); cognate with Icelandic dafla (“to dabble”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?dæb(?)l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?dæb?l/
• Rhymes: -æb?l
• Hyphenation: dab?ble

Verb

dabble (third-person singular simple present dabbles, present participle dabbling, simple past and past participle dabbled)

1. (transitive) To make slightly wet or soiled by spattering or sprinkling a liquid (such as water, mud, or paint) on it; to bedabble. [from late 16th c.]
2. (transitive) To cause splashing by moving a body part like a bill or limb in soft mud, water, etc., often playfully; to play in shallow water; to paddle.
3. (intransitive, figuratively) To participate or have an interest in an activity in a casual or superficial way.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To interfere or meddle in; to tamper with.

Synonyms

• (to make slightly wet or soiled): bespatter, besprinkle, spatter

Derived terms

• bedabble
• dabbler
• dabblesome
• dabbling (noun)
• dabbling duck

Translations

See also

• dribble

Noun

dabble (plural dabbles)

1. A spattering or sprinkling of a liquid.
2. An act of splashing in soft mud, water, etc.
3. An act of participation in an activity in a casual or superficial way.

Translations

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “dabble, v.”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, volume IV (Creel–Duzepere), 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN, page 207, columns 2–3

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?d?b(?)l/
• Rhymes: -?b?l
• Hyphenation: dib?ble

Etymology 1

Possibly dib (“to dab lightly”) +? -le (“frequentative suffix indicating repetition or continuousness”); however, the word dibble is attested earlier than dib.

Noun

dibble (plural dibbles)

1. A pointed implement used to make holes in the ground in which to set out plants or to plant seeds.

Synonyms

• dib
• dibber

Translations

Verb

dibble (third-person singular simple present dibbles, present participle dibbling, simple past and past participle dibbled)

1. (transitive) To make holes or plant seeds using, or as if using, a dibble.
   • 1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, chapter 12, in The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia; 1), London: The Bodley Head, ?OCLC; republished London: Collins, 1998, ?ISBN:

     It was Digory who had the bright idea of eating four each and planting the ninth; for, as he said, "if the bar off the lamp-post turned into a little light-tree, why shouldn’t this turn into a toffee-tree?" So they dibbled a small hole in the turf and buried the piece of toffee.

2. (intransitive) To use a dibble; to make holes in the soil.
3. (intransitive) To dib or dip frequently, as in angling.
   • 1622, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion song 25 p. 106[1]:

     And neere to them ye see the lesser dibling Teale

Related terms

• dibber
• dibbly
• dibbly-dobbler

Etymology 2

From the character of Officer Charlie Dibble, a New York Police Department officer, in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Top Cat (first broadcast in the US in 1961, and in the UK in 1962 under the title Boss Cat).

Noun

dibble (countable and uncountable, plural dibbles)

1. (slang, Britain, originally Manchester, countable) A police officer.
2. (slang, Britain, originally Manchester, uncountable) Preceded by the: the police.

Synonyms

• (a police officer): See Thesaurus:police officer
• (the police): See Thesaurus:police

Further reading

• dibble on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• debbil, libbed