driblet
/ˈdrɪblɪt
/noun
1A thin stream or small drop of liquid: driblets of spittle run from her mouth...
- They increased their first driblets of ‘aid’ only when it became clear that people all over the world were spontaneously giving millions and a public relations problem beckoned.
- The page-count also gives manga artists room to unfold their stories, shaking the last driblets of pathos from the often-overripe melodrama.
- The steamroller would seem to rest too, just sighing little driblets of steam, when the roadmen took their breaks.
1.1A small or insignificant amount: the prisoners were let out in driblets...
- There is already among the British soldiers an immense vocabulary of slang or colloquialisms, driblets of which reach us now and then.
- Due to slow driblets of monthly welfare payments to single mothers, there is insufficient food on the table.
Origin
Late 16th century (in the sense 'small sum of money'): from obsolete drib (see dribble) + -let.