"tribble" meaning in English

See tribble in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈtɹɪbl̩/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tribble.wav Forms: tribbles [plural]
Rhymes: -ɪbəl Etymology: Unknown. The Century Dictionary suggests possibly a corruption of cribble (“sieve”). Etymology templates: {{unk|en}} Unknown Head templates: {{en-noun}} tribble (plural tribbles)
  1. A horizontal frame with wires stretched across it for drying paper. Synonyms: treble
    Sense id: en-tribble-en-noun-LoaeOZN6 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 62 38 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 52 48
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Noun

IPA: /ˈtɹɪbl̩/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tribble.wav Forms: tribbles [plural]
Rhymes: -ɪbəl Etymology: Probably invented for alliteration with trouble; the creatures first appeared in an episode called "The Trouble with Tribbles". Head templates: {{en-noun}} tribble (plural tribbles)
  1. A fictional alien creature in Star Trek, a fast-breeding, cooing ball of fur. Categories (topical): Celestial inhabitants, Fictional characters, Star Trek
    Sense id: en-tribble-en-noun--rBikCEa Disambiguation of Celestial inhabitants: 13 87 Disambiguation of Fictional characters: 13 87 Disambiguation of Star Trek: 4 96 Categories (other): Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 52 48
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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      "expansion": "Unknown",
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  "etymology_text": "Unknown. The Century Dictionary suggests possibly a corruption of cribble (“sieve”).",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A horizontal frame with wires stretched across it for drying paper."
      ],
      "id": "en-tribble-en-noun-LoaeOZN6",
      "links": [
        [
          "horizontal",
          "horizontal"
        ],
        [
          "frame",
          "frame"
        ],
        [
          "wire",
          "wire"
        ],
        [
          "paper",
          "paper"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "treble"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɹɪbl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tribble.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/19/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-tribble.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-tribble.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪbəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tribble"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
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        },
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          "_dis": "13 87",
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          "orig": "en:Star Trek",
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            "Speculative fiction",
            "Broadcasting",
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        {
          "ref": "1998, William A. Sethares, Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale, page 49:",
          "text": "Scales have proliferated like tribbles in quadra-triticale: just intonations, equal temperaments, scales based on overtones, scales generated from a single interval or pair of intervals, scales without octaves, scales arising from arcane mathematical formulas, scales that reflect cosmological or religious structures, scales that \"come from the heart.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Robin C. Whittaker, editor, Hot Thespian Action!, page 569:",
          "text": "The Hyper-Producing Playwrights of Edmondton: Or Why Alberta’s Capital Breeds New Plays Like Tribbles.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Dakota Cassidy, chapter 19, in Accidentally Demonic:",
          "text": "They were like tribbles, multiplying by the dozens, cackling, giggling their maniacal joy at the game.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Zanzibar 7. Schwarzenegger, Veneri Verbum, page 19:",
          "text": "They breed like tribbles, but at least they’re not terrestrial.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fictional alien creature in Star Trek, a fast-breeding, cooing ball of fur."
      ],
      "id": "en-tribble-en-noun--rBikCEa",
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        [
          "alien",
          "alien"
        ],
        [
          "coo",
          "coo"
        ],
        [
          "ball",
          "ball"
        ],
        [
          "fur",
          "fur"
        ]
      ]
    }
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      "ipa": "/ˈtɹɪbl̩/",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪbəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tribble"
}
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        "A horizontal frame with wires stretched across it for drying paper."
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    },
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      "rhymes": "-ɪbəl"
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "treble"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tribble"
}

{
  "categories": [
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
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          "ref": "1998, William A. Sethares, Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale, page 49:",
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        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Robin C. Whittaker, editor, Hot Thespian Action!, page 569:",
          "text": "The Hyper-Producing Playwrights of Edmondton: Or Why Alberta’s Capital Breeds New Plays Like Tribbles.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Dakota Cassidy, chapter 19, in Accidentally Demonic:",
          "text": "They were like tribbles, multiplying by the dozens, cackling, giggling their maniacal joy at the game.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Zanzibar 7. Schwarzenegger, Veneri Verbum, page 19:",
          "text": "They breed like tribbles, but at least they’re not terrestrial.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "A fictional alien creature in Star Trek, a fast-breeding, cooing ball of fur."
      ],
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          "alien",
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        ],
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          "ball",
          "ball"
        ],
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          "fur",
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        ]
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  ],
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪbəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tribble"
}

Download raw JSONL data for tribble meaning in English (4.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.