nimble

(redirected from nimbler)
Also found in: Thesaurus.

nim·ble

 (nĭm′bəl)
adj. nim·bler, nim·blest
1. Quick, light, or agile in movement or action; deft: nimble fingers.
2. Quick, clever, and acute in devising or understanding: nimble wits. See Synonyms at dexterous.

[Middle English nemel, from Old English nǣmel, quick to seize and numol, quick at learning; see nem- in Indo-European roots.]

nim′ble·ness n.
nim′bly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

nimble

(ˈnɪmbəl)
adj
1. agile, quick, and neat in movement: nimble fingers.
2. alert; acute: a nimble intellect.
[Old English nǣmel quick to grasp, and numol quick at seizing, both from niman to take]
ˈnimbleness n
ˈnimbly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

nim•ble

(ˈnɪm bəl)

adj. -bler, -blest.
1. quick and light in movement; agile: nimble feet.
2. quick to understand, think, devise, etc.: a nimble mind.
3. cleverly contrived: a nimble plot.
[before 1000; late Middle English nymel, earlier nemel, Old English nǣmel capable =nǣm- (variant s. of niman to take; see nim) + -el -le]
nim′ble•ness, n.
nim′bly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

nimble

  • agile - Means having quick motion and being nimble, from Latin agere, "to do."
  • flippant - Once meant "flexible, nimble, pliant."
  • chopsticks - In Chinese, the word for chopsticks originally meant "quick sticks" or "nimble ones."
  • wieldy - Means "easily controlled or handled," and once meant "agile, nimble."
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.nimble - moving quickly and lightlynimble - moving quickly and lightly; "sleek and agile as a gymnast"; "as nimble as a deer"; "nimble fingers"; "quick of foot"; "the old dog was so spry it was halfway up the stairs before we could stop it"
active - characterized by energetic activity; "an active toddler"; "active as a gazelle"; "an active man is a man of action"
2.nimble - mentally quicknimble - mentally quick; "an agile mind"; "nimble wits"
intelligent - having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree; "is there intelligent life in the universe?"; "an intelligent question"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

nimble

adjective
1. agile, active, lively, deft, proficient, sprightly, nippy (Brit. informal), spry, dexterous Lily, who was light and nimble on her feet, was learning to tap-dance.
agile heavy, slow, dull, awkward, clumsy, inactive, lethargic, indolent
2. alert, ready, bright (informal), sharp, keen, active, smart, quick-witted To keep your mind nimble, you must use it.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

nimble

adjective
1. Moving or performing quickly, lightly, and easily:
2. Exhibiting or possessing skill and ease in performance:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
رَشيق الحَرَكَه
hbitýmrštný
adræt
ketteränopeaälyinenvalpasvikkelä
fürgegyorshajlékonyokosötletes
fimur, lipur
vikriai
izveicīgs, veikls
atikçevik

nimble

[ˈnɪmbl] ADJ (nimbler (compar) (nimblest (superl))) [person, mind] → ágil; [feet] → ligero; [fingers] → hábil, diestro
nimble-fingeredde dedos hábiles
nimble-footedde pies ligeros
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

nimble

[ˈnɪmbəl] adj
[person, fingers] → agile; [feet] → agile; [footwork] → bon(bonne)
to be nimble on one's feet → avoir le pied léger
[mind] → vif(vive)nimble-fingered [ˌnɪmbəlˈfɪŋgərd] adjaux doigts agilesnimble-footed [ˌnɪmbəlˈfʊtɪd] adjau pied léger
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

nimble

adj (+er) (= quick) fingers, feetflink; person alsobehände (geh); (= agile)gelenkig, wendig, beweglich; carwendig; (= skilful)geschickt; mindbeweglich; to be very nimble at operating somethingsehr geschickt im Umgang mit etw sein; as nimble as a goatleichtfüßig (wie eine Gämse); she is still nimblesie ist noch sehr rüstig

nimble

:
nimble-fingered
adjfingerfertig
nimble-footed
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

nimble

[ˈnɪmbl] adj (-r (comp) (-st (superl))) (in moving) → agile; (mentally) → vivace, sveglio/a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

nimble

(ˈnimbl) adjective
quick and light in movement. a nimble jump.
ˈnimbly adverb
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
"It is a wondrous thing how fleet'Twas on those little silver feet, With what a pretty skipping grace It oft would challenge me the race, And when't had left me far away'Twould stay, and run again, and stay; For it was nimbler much than hinds, And trod as if on the four winds.
'Pretty well done,' shouted Toby underneath me; 'you are nimbler than I thought you to be--hopping about up there from root to root like any young squirrel.
'It hasn't in it a better, nor a nimbler, nor a more active man, than Barnaby Rudge,' said Hugh.
'Twas on those little silver feet; With what a pretty skipping grace It oft would challenge me to race; And when 't had left me far away, 'Twould stay, and run again, and stay; For it was nimbler much than hinds, And trod as if on the four winds.
Better than the hand and nimbler was the invisible thought which wrought through it; and thus ever, behind the coarse effect, is a fine cause, which, being narrowly seen, is itself the effect of a finer cause.
"The first is like a steel trap, and the last nimbler than a buck- shot.
At a nimbler trot, as if the shovel over his shoulder stimulated him by reviving old associations, Mr Boffin ascended the 'serpentining walk', up the Mound which he had described to Silas Wegg on the occasion of their beginning to decline and fall.
With that hubris came the ingredients of what appears to be its misery: a failure of management to adapt to changing consumer demands driven by technological evolution resulting in the erstwhile state-owned giant being overshadowed by its newer, nimbler privately-owned competitors.
Katoni expects to achieve its growth targets by servicing existing clients well, but the new systems are also geared to many of the newer and nimbler operators taking up mature assets in the basin.
On and on they limp, while people of nimbler intellect switch to an even more vexatious problem.
European capitalism is often compared unfavourably with the supposedly nimbler, hungrier and more innovative species seen in the US or China.