noun
trickle
TRIH-kuhl
noun
1
A thin, slow flow of liquid, or the small amount that flows this way.
"Just a trickle of water came from the tap."
"A trickle of blood ran down his arm."
verb
1
To flow slowly in a thin stream, drop by drop.
"Sweat trickled down her back in the heat."
"Rain trickled through a crack in the roof."
2
To arrive or happen gradually, in small numbers over time.
"Guests began to trickle into the hall around six."
How to Use Trickle
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA slow, thin flow — of liquid, or of anything (like news or visitors) arriving bit by bit.
Common pairings
a trickle of water
trickle down
trickle in
Word Forms
trickled past tense, trickles plural, trickles singular
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Etymology
From Middle English triklen, which grew out of an older word striklen ("to trickle") after speakers misheard where one word ended and the next began — the same kind of slip that gave us "an apron" from "a napron."