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
Secchi’s ragù is the opposite of bouncy meat nubbins bobbing in tomato sauce.
—
Chris Morocco, Bon Appetit Magazine, 16 Apr. 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, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Dec. 2022
Chris Morocco, Bon Appetit Magazine, 16 Apr. 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, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nubbin
Noun
-
The machine-like efficiency is terrifying, right up until a single speck of dirt falls into the gears.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
11 June 2026
-
This looks like tiny black or reddish-brown specks that resemble coffee grounds.—
Emily Hayes,
Martha Stewart,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
The 36-year-old entrepreneur from Stanford, Connecticut, moved to Mexico City last year to reconnect with the roots of his late grandparents.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
12 June 2026
-
Jason Momoa, who was born in Hawaii, was photographed helping Lola arrange traditional colorful Hawaiian garlands, the leis, a tribute to her roots.—
Monica Coviello,
Vanity Fair,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
From the train windows, expect to spot the aquamarine waves of Ligurian Sea crashing against the stony coast, candy-colored houses huddled together on the hillsides, tiny wooden boats gliding through village harbors, and flecks of golden-sand beaches.—
Jessica Puckett,
Condé Nast Traveler,
5 June 2026
-
The light had a wintry grain, with flecks of color suspended in it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
After the road trip, Washington, then 73, stepped aside from his managerial duties indefinitely before undergoing quadruple bypass heart surgery.—
Stephen J. Nesbitt,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
-
The findings, the latest in a growing body of research about the vaccine’s benefits for heart health, suggest such benefits observed in earlier studies have persisted for years.—
Daniel Wu,
Washington Post,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
Sunday brings a little bit of everything.—
Damien Lodes,
CBS News,
13 June 2026
-
Drill bit makers who serve the oil and gas industry are replacing tungsten drill bits with steel, which wears more quickly.—
Ari Sen,
Scientific American,
13 June 2026
Noun
-
Victoria’s Secret said it’s committed to safe, respectful working conditions across its global supply chain, with women’s safety, dignity, and economic empowerment at the core.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Footwear News,
11 June 2026
-
The system uses heat pipes to move heat away from the reactor core and into a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system that generates electricity.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
Seasonal allergies are primarily caused by trees and grasses, whose tiny pollen particles travel on the wind.—
Alexandra Jones,
The Spruce,
10 June 2026
-
Tiny silica beads about 10 microns in diameter are projected at the polymer at about 750 meters per second (over 1,600 miles per hour) with the amount of energy absorbed measured by calculating the change in particle velocity before and after the beads pass through.—
Shirl Leigh
June 10,
New Atlas,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-23111, is located in nf_tables, a subsystem of the Linux kernel that provides packet filtering capabilities.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
-
When cool enough to handle, cut kernels from cobs and coarsely chop onion.—
Cathy Thomas,
Oc Register,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nubbin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nubbin. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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