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nibble |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Nibble \Nib"ble\, 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. Instead of returning a full answer to my book, he manifestly falls a-nibbling at one single passage. --Tillotson. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Nibble \Nib"ble\, n. A small or cautious bite. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Nibble \Nib"ble\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Nibbled}; p. pr & vb n. {Nibbling}.] [Cf. {Nip}.] To bite by little at a time; to seize gently with the mouth; to eat slowly or in small bits. Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep. --Shak. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: nibble n 1: a small byte [syn: {nybble}] 2: gentle biting v 1: bite off very small pieces; "She nibbled on her cracker" 2: eat intermittently; take small bites of "He pieced at the sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal--she just picks at the food" [syn: {pick}, {piece}] 3: eat lightly; "She just nibbles at her food" [syn: {munch}] [ant: {gorge}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: nibble /nib'l/ (US "nybble", by analogy with bite" -> "byte") Half a {byte}. Since a byte is nearly always eight {bits}, a nibble is nearly always four bits (and can therefore be represented by one {hex} digit). Other size nibbles have existed, for example the {BBC Microcomputer} disk file system used eleven bit sector numbers which were described as one byte (eight bits) and a nibble (three bits). Compare {crumb}, {tayste}, {dynner}; see also {bit}, {nickle}, {deckle}. The spelling nybble" is uncommon in {Commonwealth Hackish} as British orthography suggests the pronunciation /ni:'bl/. (1997-12-03)
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