trickle
n. countablen. a very small amount of liquid or a few things moving slowly in a thin line. You use this when something is flowing much more slowly than usual.
n. a small, thin, or irregular flow of liquid; by extension, a slow and limited movement of people, vehicles, or information. Often used with the preposition 'of'.
A trickle of water ran down the window.
The heavy rain eventually slowed to a trickle, allowing the hikers to leave their shelter.
What began as a trickle of complaints soon became a flood of public outrage as more details of the corporate scandal were leaked to the press.
From Middle English triklen, likely a rebracketing (e.g. teres strikled > teerys trikled (“tears trickled”)) of Middle English striklen (“to trickle”), equivalent to strike + -le. For other similar cases of incorrect division, see also apron, daffodil, newt, nickname, orange, umpire.
Commonly used in the singular form with the indefinite article ('a trickle of').