nibbler
(ˈnɪblə(r))
[f. nibble v. + -er1.]
1. a. One who or that which nibbles, in various senses of the vb.
| 1598 Florio, Rosicara, a mouse, a rat, a nibbler. 1599 Shakes., etc. Pass. Pilgr. iv, The tender nibler would not touch the bait. 1674 Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 21 There is a late nibler at this Learned Doctor. a 1717 Parnell Battle of Frogs & Mice iii. 169 Then earth's inhabitants, the nibblers, shake. 1759 Warburton Lett. to Hurd cxxx. (1809) 286 These are nibblers at the outside. 1800 J. Hurdis Fav. Village 195 Rich furze, erewhile By the last fleecy nibbler neatly trimmed. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Nibbler, a pilferer or petty thief. 1867 F. Francis Angling iii. 60 Although somewhat of a nibbler,..the bream will almost always take the bait in the end. |
b. Engin. A type of metal-cutting tool in which a rapidly reciprocating punch knocks out a line of overlapping small holes from sheet or plate.
| 1939 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLIII. 144 Practically all of the standard means of cutting are used in all factories. These are the oxy-acetylene torch,..the nibbler; the saw; and the uni-shears. 1958 Engineering 28 Mar. 409/2 A nibbler for sheet up to 16 s.w.g. 1961 Aeroplane & Astronautics CI. 272/3 On display is a complete range of tools, including drills, screwdrivers, nutrunners, grinders, rivet and bolt millers, nibblers and shears. |
2. U.S. The Blue Perch (Ctenolabrus adspersus).
| 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v. Burgall, Other names..are Nibbler, from its nibbling off the bait when thrown for other fishes, Blue Perch and Conner. |