dibs

«dibs» in Mova's school dictionary: A claim to have or do something first: if you say «Dibs… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun, plural only (slang: dibs; «dibs on»); interjection «Dibs!»

meaning for a pupil

1) (slang) A claim to have or do something first: if you say «Dibs on the front seat!», you mean you get it. tree →

2) (slang, UK, old) Money. tree →

sense in the lessons

In children's everyday life, «dibs» is said to claim a seat, the last biscuit or the first go; it works like «bagsy» in the UK and «shotgun» for the front car seat. In stories it shows children's playful arguing. Phrases: «dibs on», «I call dibs», «have dibs on».

examples

• Dibs on the window seat! tree →
• I called dibs on the last slice of pizza. tree →
• You can't have it, Ellie already has dibs. tree →
• Dibs on going first! tree →
• Who's got dibs on the top bunk? tree →
• He shouted «dibs!» before anyone else could. tree →

note

Slang, mostly US, Canada, Australia; in the UK children often say «bagsy» instead. Always plural in form: «dibs», not «a dib». It is a game rule, not a real right, so it can cause arguments. Not used in formal writing.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «dibs» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.