Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Nip
Nip
,Noun.
[LG. & D.
nippen
to sip; akin to Dan. nippe
, G. nippen
.] A sip or small draught; esp., a draught of intoxicating liquor; a dram.
Nip
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Nipped
, less properly Nipt
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Nipping
.] [OE.
nipen
; cf. D. niipen
to pinch, also knippen
to nip, clip, pinch, snap, knijpen
to pinch, LG. knipen
, G. kneipen
, kneifen
, to pinch, cut off, nip, Lith. knebti
.] 1.
To catch and inclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.
May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell,
Down, down, and close again, and
If I be such a traitress.
Down, down, and close again, and
nip
me flat,If I be such a traitress.
Tennyson.
2.
To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
The small shoots . . . must be
nipped
off. Mortimer.
3.
Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
4.
To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt.
And sharp remorse his heart did prick and
nip
. Spenser.
To nip in the bud
, to cut off at the very commencement of growth; to kill in the incipient stage.
Nip
,Noun.
1.
A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching;
as, in the northern seas, the
. nip
of masses of ice2.
A pinch with the nails or teeth.
3.
A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
4.
A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
5.
A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
Latimer.
6.
(Naut.)
A short turn in a rope.
Nip and tuck
, a phrase signifying equality in a contest;
as, it was
. nip and tuck
right to the last minute of play[Low, U.S.]
Webster 1828 Edition
Nip
NIP
,Verb.
T.
1.
To cut, bite or pinch off the end or nib, or to pinch off with the ends of the fingers. The word is used in both senses; the former is probably the true sense. Hence,2.
To cut off the end of any thing; to clip, as with a knife or scissors; as, to nip off a shoot or twig.3.
To blast; to kill or destroy the end of any thing; hence, to kill; as, the frost has nipped the corn; the leaves are nipped; the plant was nipped int he bud. Hence, to nip in the bud, is to kill or destroy in infancy or youth, or in the first stage of growth.4.
To pinch, bite or affect the extremities of any thing; as a nipping frost; hence, to pinch or bite in general; to check growth.5.
To check circulation.When blood is nipt. [Unusual.]
6.
To bite; to vex.And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.
7.
To satirize keenly; to taunt sarcastically.NIP
,Noun.
1.
A pinch with the nails or teeth.2.
A small cut, or a cutting off the end.3.
A blast; a killing of the ends of plants; destruction by frost.4.
A biting sarcasm; a taunt.5.
A sip or small draught; as a nip of toddy.Definition 2024
Nip
nip
nip
English
Noun
nip (plural nips)
- A small quantity of something edible or a potable liquor.
- I’ll just take a nip of that cake.
- He had a nip of whiskey.
Synonyms
- nibble (of food)
- See also Wikisaurus:drink
Etymology 2
Diminutive of nipple.
Noun
nip (plural nips)
- (vulgar) A nipple, usually of a woman.
Etymology 3
Probably from a form of Middle Dutch nipen. Cognate with Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.
Verb
nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)
- To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.
- 1859, Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King, Merlin and Vivien:
- May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir ****, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress.
-
- To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
- To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
- To annoy, as by nipping
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:
- And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.
-
- To taunt.
- (Scotland, Northern England) To squeeze or pinch.
Noun
nip (plural nips)
- A playful bite.
- The puppy gave his owner’s finger a nip.
- A pinch with the nails or teeth.
- Briskly cold weather.
- There is a nip in the air. It is nippy outside.
- 1915, W.S. Maugham, "Of Human Bondage", chapter 118:
- The day had only just broken, and there was a nip in the air; but the sky was cloudless, and the sun was shining yellow.
- A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching
- the nip of masses of ice.
- A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
- A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
- A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
- (nautical) A short turn in a rope.
- (papermaking) The place of intersection where one roll touches another
- (historical slang) A pickpocket.
- 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 27:
- A novice nip, newly arrived in London, went one afternoon to the Red Bull in Bishopsgate, an inn converted to a playhouse.
-
Synonyms
- (pickpocket): see Wikisaurus:pickpocket
Derived terms
Translations
cold weather
|
Etymology 4
Verb
nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)
- To make a quick, short journey or errand, usually a round trip.
- Why don’t you nip down to the grocer’s for some milk?
Anagrams
Albanian
Etymology
From Proto-Albanian *nepō, from Proto-Indo-European *népōt (“grandson, nephew”). Cognate to Latin nepos (“grandson”) and Sanskrit नपात् (nápat-, “grandson”). Assumption of a Latin loanword, as proposed by others, is uncertain.
Noun
nip m
See also
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
nip