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tribble

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tribble¹

  • /ˈtɹɪbl̩/ US

Rhymes with -ɪbəl

Where it comes from

Unknown. The Century Dictionary suggests possibly a corruption of cribble (“sieve”).

noun tribbles · treble

  1. A horizontal frame with wires stretched across it for drying paper.

tribble²

  • /ˈtɹɪbl̩/ US

Rhymes with -ɪbəl

Where it comes from

Probably invented for alliteration with trouble; the creatures first appeared in an episode called "The Trouble with Tribbles".

noun tribbles

  1. A fictional alien creature in Star Trek, a fast-breeding, cooing ball of fur. 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 rel

Tribble³

proper noun Tribbles

  1. A surname. Career diplomat Conrad Tribble said on Twitter that multiculturalism “is one of our greatest strengths as a country, and I go to that well often as an American diplomat. It’s hard to overstate the global soft power impact of America’s cultural diversity.”

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Cite this
MLA

"tribble." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tribble. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tribble. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tribble

Chicago

"tribble." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tribble.

BibTeX
@misc{tribble_2026,
  title = {tribble},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tribble},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}