1
slang : money especially in small amounts
2
: claim, rights
I have dibs on that piece of cake

Examples of dibs in a Sentence

I get dibs on the front seat!
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Coastal audiences get first dibs with five nights apiece in Los Angeles and New York, and the entire run features support from singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou. Quinn Moreland, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2024 The PlayStation Direct website will get first dibs, followed by other retailers a couple of weeks later. Eric Ravenscraft, WIRED, 26 Sep. 2024 California Caltrans effectively kills 710 Freeway extension after decades-long battle Nov. 29, 2018 It’s long been anticipated that if the freeway never got finished, Caltrans would sell the houses, with existing tenants getting first dibs. Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2024 In the house’s eaves, where Sheraton and her husband kept cozy twin offices, the books awaited Slotnick, who specializes in out-of-print and antiquarian titles, and who’d been given first dibs. Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for dibs 

Word History

Etymology

short for dibstones jacks, from obsolete dib to dab

First Known Use

1812, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dibs was in 1812

Dictionary Entries Near dibs

Cite this Entry

“Dibs.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dibs. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

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