fillip

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a…

   The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a snap; a flick.

2. 2

   A sharp strike or tap made using this action, or (by extension) by other means.

   • Arch[ers]. In default of six pistoles, / Choose then without ado / To receive thirty fillips, / Or twelve blows with the stick. / Punch. If it must be, and that I must pass through that, I choose the fillips.
3. 3

   Something unimportant, a trifle

   Something unimportant, a trifle; also, the brief time it takes to flick one's finger (see noun sense 1); a jiffy.

   • Eat, drink and love; the rest's not worth a fillip.
4. ›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Something that excites or stimulates.

      • This measure gave a fillip to the housing market.
      • The athlete’s victory provided a much-needed fillip for national pride.
      • He sat at the head of the table with his hat on, and an eye beaming even more luminously than his nose. He had a quiz and a fillip for every one, and a good thing on every occasion.
   2. 5

      To strike, project, or propel with a fillip (that is, a finger released quickly after…

      To strike, project, or propel with a fillip (that is, a finger released quickly after being pressed against the thumb); to flick.

      • Mene[laus]. An odde man Lady, euery man is odde. / Creſ[ſida]. No Paris is not, for you know tis true, / That you are odde and he is euen with you. / Mene. You fillip me a'th head.
   3. 6

      To project quickly

      To project quickly; to snap.

      • Yet he obſerv'd how ſtill his Iron Balls / Recoyl'd in vain againſt our Oaken Walls. / How the hard Pellets fell away as dead, / By our inchanted Timber fillipped.
   4. 7

      To strike or tap smartly.

      • The boughs were so tangled that in following the obstructed track it became necessary to screen his face with his hands to escape the risk of having his eyes filliped out by the twigs that impeded his progress.
   5. 8

      To drive as if by a fillip (noun sense 1)

      To drive as if by a fillip (noun sense 1); to excite, stimulate, whet.

      • The spicy aroma filliped my appetite.
      • Grand snoozing to-night, maty; fat night for that. I mark this in our old Mogul's wine; it’s quite as deadening to some as filliping to others.
   6. 9

      To make a fillip (noun sense 1) (with the fingers).

      • As they were drinking after dinner, the prince jocosely dipped his finger in a glass of wine, and fillipped it into Oglethorpe's face.

The neighborhood

• neighborflip