Morsel

//ˈmɔɹsəl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small fragment or share of something, commonly applied to food.

    "By sticking out his tongue and curling it sideways to explore the hairy jungle around his mouth, he was always able to find a tasty morsel here and there to nibble on."

  2. 2
    a small amount of solid food; a mouthful wordnet
  3. 3
    A mouthful of food.

    "Me thinks I ſee the Turke nodding vvith his Turban, and telling me that I ſhould thanke Heaven for that diſtance vvhich is betvvixt us, els he vvould ſvvallovv me all up at one morſell; […]"

  4. 4
    a small quantity of anything wordnet
  5. 5
    A very small amount.

    "Didn't even a morsel of decency remain in his brother?"

Verb
  1. 1
    To divide into small pieces. transitive
  2. 2
    To feed with small pieces of food. obsolete, rare, transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
bitaceambrosiaatomatomaught

Antonyms

All antonyms
oodles

Example

More examples

"A fine collation was served, but the young Prince ate not a morsel, so intently was he occupied with her."

Etymology

From Middle English morsel, from Old French morsel, from Medieval Latin morsellum (“a bit, a little piece”), diminutive of Latin morsum (“a bit”), neuter of morsus, perfect passive participle of mordeo (“I bite”). Compare French morceau, whence the English doublet morceau.

Related phrases

Adam's morsel

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.