Dribbed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To fall or let fall in small drops or small splashes ; to move or play by repeatedly bouncing a ball lightly and quickly
2. To cause liquid to fall in tiny amounts or to handle a ball with gentle, repeated taps or small controlled movements
3. To let a fluid trickle in minor quantities or to control an object, usually a ball, by skillfully bouncing it repeatedly in a game or activity

Etymology: "Dribbed" is the past tense of "drib," a verb whose roots run deep. Its ancestor, Old English "drepan," meant "to strike, kill, overcome," and the same Germanic stem gave us the dialect word "drib," which has been used for dribbling small quantities of liquid. The verb's form also seems to have been shaped by "drip," so the two words have blended over time. The sporting sense of dribbling a ball is a separate story, tied to the idea of letting something fall in small, controlled amounts. The word's original sense of striking has nothing to do with that, which makes it a good example of how a single family of words can split into very different meanings.

Synonyms: dropped, dripped, spattered, sprinkled, splattered

Antonyms: collected, gathered, blocked, stopped, halted