dribs and drabs

American

plural noun

small and usually irregular amounts.

He repaid the loan in dribs and drabs.

dribs and drabs British

/ drɪbz /

plural noun

small sporadic amounts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

dribs and drabs Idioms

Bits and pieces, negligible amounts, as in There's not much left, just some dribs and drabs of samples. The noun drib is thought to be a shortening of driblet, for “drop” or “tiny quantity,” dating from the early 1700s, whereas drab meaning “a small sum of money” dates from the early 1800s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Information is arriving "in dribs and drabs from motorbike couriers circulating the region", making it difficult to establish an accurate toll, a humanitarian source told AFP.

From Barron's

But the releases have taken place in dribs and drabs.

From Barron's

I only heard dribs and drabs from gossips around town.

From Literature

"The news came through in dribs and drabs," Ms Norris said.

From BBC

In a speech to the European Parliament Tuesday, he pointed to export licences "issued in dribs and drabs" and said deliveries were falling behind schedule.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023