All 11 Uses

proverb
in
Kim, by Rudyard Kipling
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'Those who beg in silence starve in silence,' said Kim, quoting a native proverb.†
Chpt 1 *

proverb = a well-known, short saying that is thought to communicate wisdom
'Let thy hair grow long and talk Punjabi,' said the young soldier jestingly to Kim, quoting a Northern proverb.†
Chpt 2
Kim quoted the proverb with a meditative cough, looking discreetly earthward.†
Chpt 4
Kim breathed the proverb impersonally to the shadow-tops of the trees overhead.†
Chpt 4
He was nearly asleep when the lama suddenly quoted a proverb: 'The husbands of the talkative have a great reward hereafter.'†
Chpt 4
'Never speak to a white man till he is fed,' said Kim, quoting a well-known proverb.†
Chpt 5
Kim countered with the old proverb, 'I will change my faith and my bedding, but thou must pay for it.'†
Chpt 8
'So I should lose Delhi for the sake of a fish,' was his proverbial philosophy.†
Chpt 9

proverbial = of a well-known metaphor or proverb
When we travel—thou knowest the proverb.'†
Chpt 12

proverb = a well-known, short saying that is thought to communicate wisdom
What shame?' said Kim, quoting the proverb.†
Chpt 12
A native proverb—unquotable—showed the blackness of Kim's disapproval.†
Chpt 15

Definitions:

(1) (proverb as in: the well-known proverb)
a short saying -- typically well-known and accepted by many as offering good advice

The adjective, proverbial, may refer to a proverb or to anything that is well-known -- as in "It is a proverbial fish story exaggeration."
(2) (Proverbs as in: from The Book of Proverbs)
a work of wisdom literature found in both the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and the Hebrew Bible
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)