dribs and drabs

English

Alternative forms

• drips and drabs

Etymology

From drib (“a drop”) and drab (“a small amount”).

Noun

dribs and drabs pl (plural only)

1. A series of negligible amounts.

   Synonyms: bits and pieces, odds and ends; see also Thesaurus:hodgepodge

   • 1823, William Cobbett, “Brewing Beer”, in Cottage Economy: […], new edition, London: Printed for J. M. Cobbett, […], →OCLC, paragraph 30:

     The tea drinking has done a great deal in bringing this nation into the state [of] misery in which it now is; and the tea drinking, which is carried on by "dribs" and "drabs;" by pence and farthings going out at a time; this miserable practice has been gradually introduced by the growing weight of the taxes on Malt and on Hops, and by the everlasting penury amongst the labourers, occasioned by the paper-money.

   • 2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New infrastructure and new rolling stock”, in Rail, page 48:

     Passengers join in dribs and drabs along the way, but at Barnsley the numbers really began to swell and by Elsecar we have several standing.

Usage notes

The sense in dribs and drabs is of negligible amounts; by comparison, in odds and ends the emphasis is on a random assortment, while bits and pieces has a more middle sense.