in the fictional universe of the Star Trek franchise: a species of small, furry, featureless alien
[coined by David Gerrold, author of the Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles]
[Uhura] Oh, it’s adorable. What is it? [Jones] What is it? Why, lovely lady, it’s a tribble…. Only the sweetest creature known to man, excepting, of course, your lovely self. [Uhura] Oh, it’s purring. Listen, it’s purring.
The Tribbles were small furry creatures about five inches in diameter.
Spock, who couldn’t hold a tribble or a cat without petting it.
What exactly are you keeping in there now? Denebian slime devils? a mugatu? Tribbles?
At least it’s not a tribble, he thought.
She leaned forward, focusing her attention on a young man with a thick wad of unruly black hair that looked like he’d rolled over on a tribble in his sleep.
The tribble. The only one on board. It was, impossibly, alive. It ought not to be. But it most certainly was, which suggested that... which meant that... His eyes widened.
antedating 1967
Last modified 2021-12-06 20:36:49
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.