thimbleful

[ thim-buhl-fool ]

noun

, plural thim·ble·fuls.

1. the amount that a thimble will hold.
2. a small quantity, especially of liquid.

thimbleful

/ ˈθɪmbəlˌfʊl /

noun

1. a very small amount, esp of a liquid

Spelling Note

See -ful.

Word History and Origins

Origin of thimbleful¹

First recorded in 1600–10; thimble + -ful

Example Sentences

“We are losing older drinkers by the bucketful, but only gaining new ones by the thimbleful,” Mr. Menezes was quoted as saying in 1999 in The Scotsman newspaper.

From New York Times

Made with just a handful of actors and a thimbleful of cash, Patrick Rea’s “They Wait in the Dark” is a gruesome ghost story that plays with our expectations.

From New York Times

Gilgamesh's plan had sounded good, but how could we cure an entire city with only a thimbleful of Mo's Promise?

From Literature

I remember throwing mosquito dunks into storm drains and desperately draining every thimbleful of standing water, as well as having to douse myself in repellent just to go outside and pick up the paper.

From Washington Post

Microbiologists began by isolating the microbial DNA in a thimbleful of soil to see what genes and species were in the sample.

From Science Magazine