Meaning

The tip of a pen or tool that touches the surface, transferring ink to paper..

Definitions by Sense

1. The tip of a pen or tool that touches the surface, transferring ink to paper.
2. (now dialectal) A bird's beak.
3. Bits of trapped dust or other foreign material that form imperfections in painted or varnished surfaces.
4. A piece of a roasted, hulled cocoa bean.
5. A small and pointed thing or part; a point; a prong.
6. One of the handles projecting from a scythe snath.
7. The shaft of a wagon.
8. (transitive) To fit (a pen) with a nib.

Example Sentences

Slowly welling from the point of her gold nib, pale blue ink dissolved the full stop; for there her pen stuck; her eyes fixed, and tears slowly filled them.

Ford, whose often acid nib belied a deep love of all things Iberian, is one of 20 British authors profiled in a new Spanish book[…].

the little nib or fructifying principle

In nibbing the pen, place the inside of the point flat upon the nail of your left-hand thumb (holding the quill between the first and second finger of that hand), and let the whole length of the split be extended thereon, to steady the pen as much as possible […]

Word Forms

• nibs
• knib
• nibbing
• nibbed

Synonyms for nib

Related Words

When Should You Use Nib?

Use nib when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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