1
as in speck
a very small piece
had only a nubbin of crayon left
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in root
the central part or aspect of something under consideration
this nubbin of the intelligence report is the prediction that the country's government will soon fall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nubbin
The Carbon has two sets of pointing devices: a smallish touchpad, and ThinkPads' trademark TrackPoint keyboard nubbin with three mouse buttons.
—
PCMAG, 17 Jan. 2025
Double-tapping the nubbin now pops up a menu with volume and microphone controls and voice typing.
—PCMAG, 17 Jan. 2025
Ground nubbins of paprika, cumin, sage and black pepper that have moldered into flavorless, colored molecules.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 23 Dec. 2024
Heffernan, a gravely captivating newcomer, wraps each expression and gesture around a hard little nubbin of distrust.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Being a bit of a handy man in a fight himself, Father Ryan taught Frankie how to roll with a punch, how to upset a right swing with a left stab to his shoulder, and how to swing in with a right cross to the nubbin of the chin while his man was off keel.
—Westbrook Pegler, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2024
That changed at 1:03 a.m. on Dec. 5 when 192 giant lasers at the laboratory’s National Ignition Facility blasted a small cylinder about the size of a pencil eraser that contained a frozen nubbin of hydrogen encased in diamond.
—Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2022
Atoms flew off the nubbin, forcing it to implode at a speed of nearly 400 kilometers per second—about four times a bolt of lightning.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2023
With its mild flavor, a single nubbin of tteok is an equal opportunist flavor sponge.
—Bon Appétit, 24 May 2022
PCMAG, 17 Jan. 2025
Double-tapping the nubbin now pops up a menu with volume and microphone controls and voice typing.
—PCMAG, 17 Jan. 2025
Ground nubbins of paprika, cumin, sage and black pepper that have moldered into flavorless, colored molecules.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 23 Dec. 2024
Heffernan, a gravely captivating newcomer, wraps each expression and gesture around a hard little nubbin of distrust.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Being a bit of a handy man in a fight himself, Father Ryan taught Frankie how to roll with a punch, how to upset a right swing with a left stab to his shoulder, and how to swing in with a right cross to the nubbin of the chin while his man was off keel.
—Westbrook Pegler, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2024
That changed at 1:03 a.m. on Dec. 5 when 192 giant lasers at the laboratory’s National Ignition Facility blasted a small cylinder about the size of a pencil eraser that contained a frozen nubbin of hydrogen encased in diamond.
—Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2022
Atoms flew off the nubbin, forcing it to implode at a speed of nearly 400 kilometers per second—about four times a bolt of lightning.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2023
With its mild flavor, a single nubbin of tteok is an equal opportunist flavor sponge.
—Bon Appétit, 24 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nubbin
Noun
-
Coincidentally, also visible in the new images is the planet Mercury, appearing as a tiny speck of light gliding closer to the sun.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
17 Feb. 2025
-
Such heady heights look like a speck on the horizon right now, and the question is how small that prospect needs to shrink for anger in the stands to rise again.—
Laurie Whitwell,
The Athletic,
16 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
This allergy medication targets the root of the problem that causes red, scaly and itchy skin.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Related article ‘An agenda to control you’: How climate solutions got sucked into a fevered culture war Experts say the roots of the shift toward far-right parties can be traced back years.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The song structures melt into goo; the lyrics pelt flecks of raw feeling.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
3 Dec. 2024
-
Each light is attached to a green string to easily blend into your tree, and once the lights are turned on, the liquid inside each bulb bubbles to reveal floating flecks of gold glitter to make your tree shine.—
Kaitlin Gates,
Southern Living,
30 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
In late January, an EKG and check-up showed his heart was operating normally.—
Kerry Breen,
CBS News,
22 Feb. 2025
-
In the death chamber, Sigmon will be strapped to a chair and have a hood over his head and a target over his heart.—
Landon Mion,
Fox News,
22 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The consistency of the product gives you the ability to add a little bit of glow to the skin without adding a lot of product.—
Iman Balagam,
Vogue,
18 Feb. 2025
-
Chap in conning tower blown to bits, also man on gun.—
Sean Kingsley,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
In an interview with TIME, Golden discussed how the party should speak to swing voters, how to rebuild trust, and how to reposition the working class at the core of the Democratic coalition.—
Charlotte Alter,
TIME,
28 Feb. 2025
-
As the cores of these stars crush down, the stars' outer layers, and most of their masses, are blown away in tremendous core-collapse supernovas.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The particles can pass through any kind of matter and contain information about some of the most energetic events in the universe, such as gamma-ray bursts.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN,
15 Feb. 2025
-
In effect, the particles accelerate by surfing on these waves.—
The Physics arXiv Blog,
Discover Magazine,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Simultaneously, issues with pushing Rust code into the Linux kernel were brewing.—
Kevin Purdy,
Ars Technica,
14 Feb. 2025
-
There’s a small kernel of wisdom in what Dallas did, perhaps.—
John Hollinger,
The Athletic,
12 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nubbin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nubbin. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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