dibs

Etymology

It is probably a shortening from English of dibstones,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} the name of a children's game played by tossing up pebbles or sheep's knucklebones and catching them on the palm and the back of the hand;^[2][8] Locke mentions it.^[2][9] Etymonline dates the word dibstone to the 1690s.^[8] Its first element is probably the verb dib, to tap or dab lightly,^{[2][4][5][10]} which the OED takes as a lighter variant of dab;^[2][5][11] Etymonline calls it of unknown origin.^[8] The sense "a claim" has been explained in other ways.^[1][3] Etymonline derives it from the earlier senses "a share" and "money",^[8] and Dalzell from a British noun of the same form meaning a portion or share, recorded from 1889;^[12] Green's Dictionary of Slang records that noun from 1829 and takes it as a corruption of division or divide.^[13] The Shorter Oxford and DARE connect the claim with dubs, a similar children's word, which DARE thinks was influenced by the game.^[3][14] Wiktionary calls the origin disputed.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A children's game played with pebbles or the knucklebones of sheep, and the pebbles or bones themselves: 1736, in the second edition of Bailey's Dictionarium Britannicum.^[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1720–30,^[7] and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English to the mid 18th century.^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined a dibstone as a little stone that children throw at another stone, quoting Locke on little girls who practise for hours at dibstones.^[9] In the singular, a dib was a counter used instead of money at cards,^[2] and by 1812 dibs was slang for money, especially small sums.^[2][15][11] In the 20th century American children took it up to claim something, usually as dibs on: Etymonline dates this to 1915,^[8] DARE has it from South Carolina in 1930,^[14] and the OED's first quotation is from American Speech in 1932.^[2] The Phrase Finder notes that first dibs is claimed by calling out the word before anyone else.^[16] In Australia and New Zealand dibs are also marbles, with the phrases play for dibs, to play for keeps, and lose one's dibs, to lose one's marbles.^[17][18] In Leicestershire dialect a dib was a dibble.^[2]

Timeline

• 1736 – a children's game with pebbles or knucklebones, and the pebbles or bones used in it.^[2][3]
• 1812 – slang, money.^[2][15]
• 1891 – in Leicestershire dialect, a dibble.^[2]
• 1915 – a children's word to claim something, first in the United States.^[8] DARE's first quotation is from 1930 and the OED's from 1932.^[14][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A claim or right to have or use something, especially before anyone else, usually with on: I've got dibs on the window seat.^{[6][19][5][2]}
2. (slang) Money, especially in small amounts.^{[6][19][5][15]}
3. (British) The game of jacks; also the knucklebones or pebbles used in it.^[6][5][2]
4. (Australia, New Zealand) Marbles.^[17][18]

Interjection

1. Used, especially by children, to claim something: Dibs on the last cookie!^[2][3][14]

Related words

• dib
• dab

Usage notes

A different word dibs, a thick sweet syrup made from grape juice or dates in the Middle East, is a borrowing from colloquial Arabic, recorded from 1757;^[2][6][3] the OED and the Shorter Oxford relate the Arabic word to Hebrew dĕḇaš, honey.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
13. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ a b c d Cassidy, Frederic G. & Joan Houston Hall (eds.) (1985–2002), Dictionary of American Regional English, vols I–IV, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
15. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
16. ^ Martin, Gary, The Phrase Finder: Meaning and Origin of Phrases, Sayings, Clichés and Quotes, https://www.phrases.org.uk
17. ^ a b Moore, Bruce, ed. (2004), The Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Melbourne: Oxford University Press
18. ^ a b Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005), The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, Auckland: Oxford University Press
19. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin