dribs and drabs

plural noun

1. small and usually irregular amounts:

   He repaid the loan in dribs and drabs.

dribs and drabs

/ drɪbz /

plural noun

1. small sporadic amounts

Idioms and Phrases

Bits and pieces, negligible amounts, as in There's not much left, just some dribs and drabs of samples . The noun drib is thought to be a shortening of driblet , for “drop” or “tiny quantity,” dating from the early 1700s, whereas drab meaning “a small sum of money” dates from the early 1800s.

Example Sentences

And it's not until more trickles of information started pouring out in dribs and drabs that I started to wonder, "What's the bigger story here, and what actually happened?"

From Salon

From there, the hacked emails were released by WikiLeaks in dribs and drabs.

From Los Angeles Times

India arrived in dribs and drabs for what could be the last World Cup of some of their megastars.

From BBC

With support for Ukraine by Washington coming in dribs and drabs at best, and always running the risk of disappearing altogether, Mogelson asks a Ukrainian platoon leader how it looks to the soldiers on the ground.

From Salon

They had all that time because our support for Ukraine was in dribs and drabs.

From Salon