NIB • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Nib

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noun

Neb n. (Also written nib) The nose; the snout; the mouth; the beak of a bird; a nib, as of a pen.

Nib n.

A small and pointed thing or part; a point; a prong. "The little nib or fructifying principle."

(Zool.) The bill or beak of a bird; the neb.

The points of a pen; also, the pointed part of a pen; a short pen adapted for insertion in a holder.

One of the handles which project from a scythe snath; also, (Prov. Eng.), The shaft of a wagon.

pl. See his nibs, below.

his nibs Someone who gives a command or makes a demand, often one who acts in a self-important manner, sometimes one with authority; used mockingly as a jocose term, as if a title of honor, but not usually in the presence of the person referred to, and usually indicating resentment or contempt. (Colloq.)

verb

Nib v. t. (past & past part. nebbed; pres. part. nibbing) To furnish with a nib; to point; to mend the point of; as, to nib a pen.

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Etymology of 'Nib'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Nib" Quotes from Famous Books

... is of the correct shape, is tough and elastic; and now it is put into "tumbling barrels" which revolve till it is bright and ready for the finishing touches. If you look closely at the outside of a steel pen just above the nib, you will see that across it run tiny lines. They have a use, for they hold the ink back so that it will not roll down in drops, and they help to make the point more springy and easier ...

— Makers of Many Things • Eva March Tappan

... fine fur collars, are quite another affair. If I had the "magic nib," I could grow lyrical over them. I could, indeed. In place-of this article I would write an ode to a fur-lined coat. I would sing of the Asian wilds from whence it came, of its wondrous lines and its soft and silken texture, of its generous warmth and its caressing ...

— Pebbles on the Shore • Alpha of the Plough (Alfred George Gardiner)

... servant to wait—how long ago I am afraid to think—but certainly I must not make this note very long. I did intend to write to you to-day in any case. Since Saturday I have had my thanks ready at the end of my fingers waiting to slide along to the nib of my pen. Thank you for all your kindness and criticism, which is kindness too—thank you at last. Would that I deserved the praises as well as I do most of the findings-fault—and there is no time now to say more of them. Yet I believe ...

— The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 of 2) • Frederic G. Kenyon

... beneath the snowy crown of his wig; the amplitude of his robes grew before the eye; his whole figure, facing the comparative dusk of the Court, radiated like some majestic and sacred body. He cleared his throat, took a sip of water, broke the nib of a quill against the desk, and, folding his bony hands before ...

— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... NIB. The bill of a bird, and the slit of a pen. Figuratively, the face and mouth of a woman; as, She holds up her neb: she holds up her mouth to ...

— 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue • Captain Grose et al.

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