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解説 Definition
食べ物を小さく咬んで食べることを意味する。比喩的には、何かを少しずつ消費することを意味する。
To nibble means to eat or bite something in very small amounts. It is often used for light, slow eating, and it can also describe taking small bites with the front teeth.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
bite が「ひと口かぶりつく」なら、nibble はその小型版で、前歯で少しずつかじる感じ。量も動きも小さいと覚えるとよい。食事をしっかり食べるのでなく、snack 的に nibble on crackers / cheese の形で出やすい。gnaw は硬い物を執拗にかじる強い語だが、nibble はもっと軽く上品で、つまむような場面にも合う。比喩でも nibble away at profits のように「少しずつ削る」。一気にではなく、細かい動作が何度も続く語感が核。
Think of `nibble` as a small, repeated kind of `bite`. It is not a big hungry bite, but little bites again and again, like `nibble on crackers`. That also helps you remember its extended use for something that slowly reduces another thing bit by bit.
例文
The mouse began to nibble on the cheese.
ネズミはチーズを少しずつかじり始めた。
She would nibble on snacks while watching television.
彼女はテレビを見ながらスナックをつまんでいた。
The fish would nibble at the bait before fully biting.
魚は本格的に食いつく前に餌を少しつついていた。
nibble の類義語・関連語
nibble の語源・成り立ち Etymology
nibble はおそらく低地ドイツ語 nibbeln や中期オランダ語系の『少しずつかじる』語に由来します。大きく bite するのでなく小刻みに何度も歯を当てる動きが核なので、『ちびちびかじる』意味が自然に見え、関連語に nibbling、nibbler があります。
Nibble probably comes from Low German or Dutch-related words such as nibbeln, which meant to bite or chew in small repeated movements. From the beginning, the idea was not one big bite, but many small ones. That physical sense later extended to the general idea of taking little bits at a time. Related forms in English include nibbling and nibbler.
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