From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Nimble \Nim"ble\ (n[i^]m"b'l), adjective [Compar. {Nimbler} (n[i^]m"bl[~e]r); superl. {Nimblest} (n[i^]m"bl[e^]st).] [OE. nimel, prob. orig., quick at seizing, fr. nimen to take, AS. niman; akin to D. nemen, G. nehmen, OHG. neman, Icel. nema, Goth. nima, and prob. to Gr. ne'mein to distribute. [root] 7. Cf. {Nomand}, {Numb}.] Light and quick in motion; moving with ease and celerity; lively; swift.
Through the mid seas the nimble pinnace sails. --Pope.
Note: Nimble is sometimes used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, nimble-footed, nimble-pinioned, nimble-winged, etc.
{Nimble Will} (Bot.), a slender, branching, American grass ({Muhlenbergia diffusa}), of some repute for grazing purposes in the Mississippi valley.
Syn: Agile; quick; active; brisk; lively; prompt.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: 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" [syn: {agile}, {quick}, {spry}]
2: mentally quick; "an agile mind"; "nimble wits" [syn: {agile}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
98 Moby Thesaurus words for "nimble": active, acute, adroit, agile, alacritous, alert, alive, apt, attentive, awake, brainy, breakneck, bright, brilliant, brisk, catty, clever, coruscating, dashing, deft, dexterous, dispatchful, double-quick, eagle-winged, energetic, expeditious, express, fast, featly, fleet, flying, galloping, gifted, graceful, hair-trigger, handy, hasty, headlong, hustling, intelligent, keen, keen-witted, light, light of heel, light-footed, lightsome, limber, lithe, lively, mercurial, neat-fingered, neat-handed, nimble-footed, nimble-witted, no dumbbell, not born yesterday, on the, on the alert, on the ball, on the job, peart, precipitate, prompt, qui vive, quick, quick as lightning, quick as thought, quick-thinking, quick-witted, rapid, ready, reckless, running, scintillating, sharp, sharp-witted, sleepless, smart, snappy, spanking, sparkling, speedy, sprightly, spry, steel-trap, sure-footed, swift, talented, unblinking, unnodding, unsleeping, unwinking, vigilant, wakeful, watchful, wide-awake, winged, zippy
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