Word of the Day, June 22: ‘Dribbling’

Word of the Day: DRIBBLING
Pronunciation: UK/ˈdrɪb.əl.ɪŋ/ or US/ˈdrɪb.əl.ɪŋ/

Meaning:
Dribbling means moving a ball while walking or running, especially in sports like basketball, football (soccer), hockey, and handball.

Examples for daily usage:

• Lionel Messi is famous for close-control dribbling.
• Stephen Curry is known for ball handling and quick movement.

Origin and history:

The word 'dribble' traces back to the mid-16th century. It originated as a frequentative form of the now-obsolete verb "drib", which itself is a variant of the word "drip".

In the mid-1500s, it referred to letting something fall in small drops or trickles (like water from a leaky faucet). It was also used archaically in archery to describe shooting an arrow short or wide of its target.

Cultural significance and modern usage:

By the mid-19th century, the term 'dribble' was adopted in association football (soccer) to describe the controlled, repetitive short touches a player uses to advance the ball past defenders. Shortly after, it became a foundational rule of basketball, where continuous bouncing is the only way a player can legally move while retaining possession.

The word "dribble" entered colloquial culture as a metaphor for slow, meaningless, or nonsensical speech because its original meaning was a slow, trickling release of liquid (like saliva or a leaky tap). This overlap frequently causes it to be used interchangeably with the older term "drivel".

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Interesting facts:

• In early football, “dribbling games” helped distinguish football from rugby.
• Basketball rules once limited how players could move while controlling the ball.
• Studies in sports science often connect dribbling with coordination, reaction speed, and decision-making.

Examples form literature:

1. Sauce was dribbling out of the end of the taco and onto her hand.- Patina by Jason Reynolds
2. Instead, they walked through a forest that seemed endless, and their progress was slow, as they had to step through kudzu and over trees and hop the occasional dribbling creek.- An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
3. Only Nhamo remained, patiently changing the cloths beneath Ambuya's hips and dribbling water into her mouth.- A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
4. He was dribbling a soccer ball with his brother on the front lawn of their house.- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Synonyms:

• Trickling
• Scant
• Sparse
• Scanty

Antonyms:

• Copious
• Lavish
• Profuse
• Rotous
• Ample

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