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Vincent Teo Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

nibbling at

Can I say,

(a) The mouse is nibbling the cheese.

(b) The mouse is nibbling at /on / for the cheese.

(c) The mouse is nibbling a piece of cheese.
  

Top answer

"nibbling at" usually means that the nibbler will not finish the item. "NIbbling on" doesn't indicate any expectation about completing. Nibbling with a direct object seems strange to me, but I think it's grammatically correct.

— Old Man Gordon

  • "nibbling at" usually means that the nibbler will not finish the item.
  • "NIbbling on" doesn't indicate any expectation about completing.
  • Nibbling with a direct object seems strange to me, but I think it's grammatically correct.
  • Maybe we would understand that as an eating style, as opposed to normal chewing/chomping or taking larger mouthfuls.
  • it's in their nature.
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2 Answers
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Hmmmmmmmmmm..."nibbling at" usually means that the nibbler will not finish the item.

"NIbbling on" doesn't indicate any expectation about completing.

Nibbling with a direct object seems strange to me, but I think it's grammatically correct. Maybe we would understand that as an eating style, as opposed to normal chewing/chomping or taking larger mouthfuls. I think Mice always ni
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I can't offer 'rules' for these suggestions, but they are colloquial:

The mouse is nibbling at the cheese, or the mouse is nibbling on/at a piece of cheese. I think it sounds better with a preposition than without.
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