trickle

Everyday

1. To trickle is for a liquid to flow slowly in a thin line or small drops. tree →
2. To trickle is also for people or things to come or go slowly, a few at a time. tree →
3. A trickle is a thin slow flow of liquid. tree →
4. A trickle is also a small number of people or things arriving slowly. tree →

In the lessons

In science: water trickling through soil or rocks, a stream as a trickle in summer. In everyday life: «trickle in», «trickle out» for people arriving or leaving slowly. In stories it makes the reader see small, slow movement: a trickle of blood, sweat or tears. Phrases: «trickle down», «a trickle of», «slow to a trickle».

Examples

• A trickle of water ran down the window. tree →
• Sweat trickled down his face in the heat. tree →
• The pupils trickled into class after lunch. tree →
• In summer the river is only a trickle. tree →
• Sand trickled through her fingers. tree →
• Letters from fans came in at a trickle. tree →
• Rain trickled through the cracks in the roof. tree →
• The water trickled down the naked sides of the rocks, and snow lay thickly all around. tree →

Note

Regular verb: «trickled», «trickling» (drop the e). A trickle is slower and smaller than a stream or a flow; a «gush» is the opposite. Countable as a noun: «a trickle».

In Jewish tradition

In Job, God's wisdom is shown in the way people dig into the earth and stop the streams from trickling.

Interpretation. Job 28 is read as a hymn showing that people can master mines and streams, but real wisdom comes only from God.

Examples

• He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. (Writings JOB.28.11, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Regular verb: «trickled», «trickling» (drop the e). A trickle is slower and smaller than a stream or a flow; a «gush» is the opposite. Countable as a noun: «a trickle».