nip

verb

/nɪp/

Etymology

From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), from Middle Low German knîpen, from Old Saxon *knīpan, from Proto-West Germanic *knīpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną (“to pinch”). Related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), 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.

derived from *knīpaną✻
derived from *knīpan✻
derived from *knīpan✻
derived from knîpen
inherited from nippen

Definitions

1
To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are…
To catch and enclose 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 nip me flat, If I be such a traitress.
2
To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything
To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
- The small shoots ... must be nipt off.
To benumb [e.g., cheeks, fingers, nose] by severe cold.
›+ 29 more definitionsshow fewer
1. To blast, as by frost
  To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
2. 5
  To annoy, as by nipping.
  - And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.
3. To taunt.
4. To squeeze or pinch.
5. 8
  To steal
  To steal; especially to cut a purse.
  - Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.
  - The twelfth is a beau-trap, if a cull he does meet, / He nips all his cole, and turns him into the street.
  - "I tell you he's after me," hissed Cripps. "For nipping Antonio's fruit?" demanded Limpet, astonished into a normal attitude on both feet.
6. 9
  To affect [one] painfully
  To affect [one] painfully; to cause physical pain.'
  - He had never expected to fling the soldier, or to be flung by Flea. “One nips or is nipped,” he thought, “and never knows beforehand. …"
7. 10
  A playful bite.
  - The puppy gave his owner’s finger a nip.
8. A pinch with the nails or teeth.
9. 12
  Briskly cold weather.
  - There is a nip in the air. It is nippy outside.
  - 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.
10. 13
  A seizing or closing in upon
  A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching
  - the nip of masses of ice
11. A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
12. A more or less gradual thinning out of a stratum.
13. A blast
  A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
14. A biting sarcasm
  A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
15. A short turn in a rope.
16. The place of intersection where one roll touches another
17. 20
  A pickpocket.
  - A novice nip, newly arrived in London, went one afternoon to the Red Bull in Bishopsgate, an inn converted to a playhouse.
18. 21
  A small amount of food or drink, (particularly) a small amount of liquor.
  - I’ll just take a nip of that cake.
  - He had a nip of whiskey.
19. 22
  A nipple, usually of a woman.
  - Did you manage to sneak a peek at her nips, bro?
  - I find bras totally uncomfortable, hot and itchy, for both work and leisure. But looking around, I seem to be in the minority. What are the rules for going braless? Is it OK to show my nips, or is it rude?
20. To have erect nipples.
21. 24
  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?
  - My trip ends at Wrexham General. While the '150' trundles the final half-mile down the single line to Wrexham Central, I nip over the footbridge to explore the main part of the station.
22. A hamburger.
23. Alternative spelling of Nip
  Alternative spelling of Nip; a Japanese person.
24. A Japanese person.
25. Japanese.
26. Abbreviation of National Immunization Program.
27. Abbreviation of non-native invasive plant.
28. Abbreviation of notice of intended prosecution.
29. Abbreviation of new in package.

The neighborhood

Derived

nip at, frostnip, in the nip, nimps, nip and tuck, nipbacker, nipcheese, nipfarthing, nip in the bud, nipless, nip-outnip-up, nipper, nip point

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for nip. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA