Dictionary

tidbit en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• [ˈtʰɪd̚.bɪt̚]
• /ˈtɪd.bɪt/
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis Proto-Germanic *tīdiz Proto-West Germanic *tīdi Old English tid English bit English tidbit From Old English tid (“fond, tender, nice”) + English bit (“morsel”).

Meanings

1. (US) A part of poultry when prepared as food
   • The best mode of cutting up this Poultry is by raising, one after another, the four members, beginning by a thigh and wing on the same side, the tidbits and the white-meats; then break off the rump, and cut the body horizontally. Divide each thigh into two, and wing into three pieces; the body and the rump making six distinct ones; the white meats remaining entire. Place each piece on the dish in such a manner that all may be seen. All this should be done as quickly and cleverly as possible, in order to prevent the pieces getting cold. The tidbit is a veiny piece under the thigh, at the beginning of wing. 1846, French Domestic Cookery, Combining Elegance with Economy:
   • If in any case he ever reserved the tidbits of his own table for his own taste, he was never weary of sending the whole joint, tidbit and all, nay even when the whole joint was itself a tidbit, to his neighbor's table. 1875, Death of Hon. Samuel Hooper:
2. (US) A tasty morsel (of food).
   • Only a tidbit to a ravenous mouth. (Said when the little tidbit Denmark flies down the huge gullet of Prussia; or when Saghalin falls into Russia's maw.) 1887, William Elliot Griffis, The Mikado's Empire:
3. (US) A short item of news, gossip, or information.
   • “Gossip” is about a lot more than just juicy tidbits and the columnists that peddle them, presenting a multifaceted look at gossip’s role in the newspaper/media ecosystem and at Rupert Murdoch’s enterprises in particular. 2021 August 20, Brian Lowry, “‘Gossip’ charts how tabloid tattlers ‘escaped from their cages’ and rippled through the media”, in CNN:
   • In the congressional apportionment that followed the 1910 census, the average district had 210,328 people, according to the Census Bureau. We make note of this historical tidbit simply to emphasize the obvious fact that DC’s current population is far greater than the population of many of the districts of generations past. 2021 April 21, Daniel Dale, “Fact-checking Nancy Mace’s claim that DC wouldn’t ‘qualify’ as a single congressional district”, in CNN:
   • Maya: Maybe we should leave a juicy tidbit for someone to read! 2007 March 16, Capcom Production Studio 4, quoting Maya, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All, Europe: Capcom, →OCLC, Nintendo DS, scene: Part 3: Investigation, Cafeteria, level/area: Turnabout Big Top:
4. (US) Generically, any small thing.
   • This little book is very entertaining—quite a literary tidbit. 1894, Richard Soule, Loomis Joseph Campbell, Pronouncing Handbook of Words Often Mispronounced and of Words as to which a Choice of Pronunciation is Allowed:

Forms

Translations (16)

pl łakomy kąsek (a tasty morsel of food) · pl ciekawostka (short item of news, gossip, or information) · izh makuin (a tasty morsel of food) · pdt Lakjabeskje (a tasty morsel of food) · az dadlı tikə (a tasty morsel of food) · fi herkkupala (a tasty morsel of food) · mi whakapūwharu (a tasty morsel of food) · az dedi-qodu (short item of news, gossip, or information) · bg вкусна хапка (a tasty morsel of food) · de Leckerbissen (a tasty morsel of food) · it bocconcino (a tasty morsel of food) · fi makupala (a tasty morsel of food) · az qeybət (short item of news, gossip, or information) · it leccornia (a tasty morsel of food) · ru ла́комый кусо́к (a tasty morsel of food) · mi komekome (a tasty morsel of food)