1. Word finder
  2. Word definitions
  3. nip

Find the word definition

What is "nip"

Crossword clues for nip

nip
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
nip
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
back
▪ With his usual presence of mind he nipped back and picked up Sheldukher's hard copy map of the planet.
▪ Major airlines always act quickly to nip back.
▪ He must have felt that Fate, having knocked him down, had nipped back to knee him in the nuts.
down
▪ He was probably always nipping down to Underwoods for a few grams of thallium.
in
▪ Quick, nip in where that taxi's johnny-head-in-airing along.
▪ She wore a cream-colored silk blouse and a full linen skirt nipped in at the waist.
▪ So are gilts, especially if you nip in to them before the next - perhaps imminent - interest rate cut.
▪ Some one nipped in and stole his cheque book and wallet.
▪ And then he took advantage of a mix-up between Bennett and defender Darren Bradshaw to nip in and side-foot home.
▪ A cropped and fitted jacket nips in to show off a neat waist and looks trim with a long line skirt.
off
▪ The pigeons have a taste for flowers, nipping off their heads, and damaging displays around Rhuddlan.
▪ When they can catch them, the crabs will nip off bits of red plume from tubeworms.
out
▪ He nipped out to the off-licence at lunchtime and bought her a huge box of chocolates.
▪ Five seconds later, the weapon's fins nip out.
▪ He'd nip out while they were watching television.
▪ Of course, she had only nipped out to do a spot of shopping in London's Covent Garden.
over
▪ Then we thought we should nip over the next craggy bit to get a better view.
■ NOUN
bud
▪ If the economy is picking up steam, the recovery may be nipped in the bud by renewed Fed tightening.
▪ It was the best way to nip this in the bud.
▪ Guideline 18: Try to nip misbehaviour in the bud.
▪ The objective is to prevent, or at least nip in the bud, unwanted feelings.
▪ John's incipient school problems were nipped in the bud.
▪ Any breach of confidentiality concerning their children is something they have to nip in the bud right now.
▪ Thus, the possibility of social democracy is also neatly nipped in the bud.
heel
▪ It is projected to hit $ 1. 17 billion in 1996 sales, nipping at the heels of Sega and Nintendo.
▪ She used those wolves for all they were worth, as though imaginary wolves still nipped her heels in the Clifton Mall.
▪ A collie on a leash nipped me on the heel, going through the skin.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ A school of fish swam around her feet, some nipping at her ankles.
▪ Keep the plants covered to keep frost from nipping them.
▪ When I took the hamster out of his cage, he nipped me.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Guideline 18: Try to nip misbehaviour in the bud.
▪ I could nip round the corner and bring some back for us both.
▪ I was surprised how weak and light-headed I felt on nipping out of my hospital bed to recover a dropped book.
▪ In this case a budding urethral neurosis was nipped before it could really blossom.
▪ It is a reflex born of predation by voracious crabs that nip at the tender tubeworm plumes with their claws.
▪ Note the fare rate number printed on the part to be nipped.
▪ She used those wolves for all they were worth, as though imaginary wolves still nipped her heels in the Clifton Mall.
▪ The objective is to prevent, or at least nip in the bud, unwanted feelings.
II.noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The dog gave me a playful nip.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A nip here, a tuck there, and it was seven years ago.
▪ Already, the darkness was closing in, and there was a real winter nip in the air.
▪ He called his technique nips for blips, blips being the little green numbers that represent bond prices on the screens.
▪ He thought she might be on the point of offering him a nip of whisky but she did not go that far.
▪ He took to having a daily early-morning nip from a half-bottle of whisky in his hip pocket.
▪ He was shortly drinking hard, following bourbon two-fers with nip bottles of Lucky Lager.
▪ It was nip and tuck up to 7-7 before Best opened up a 12-9 lead.
▪ The nip on my cheeks of it confirms life.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Nip

Nip \Nip\, n. [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

Nip \Nip\, n.

  1. A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, in the northern seas, the nip of masses of ice.

  2. 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.

Nip

Nip \Nip\, v. 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 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.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
nip

"a pinch; a sharp bite," 1540s, from nip (v.). Meaning "a chill in the weather" is from 1610s, probably so called for its effect on vegetation. Nip and tuck "a close thing" is recorded from 1832, perhaps from sailing or tailoring.

nip

"to pinch sharply; to bite suddenly," late 14c., related to Middle Low German nipen "to nip, to pinch," German nippen, Middle Dutch nipen "to pinch," Dutch nijpen, Old Norse hnippa "to prod," but the exact evolution of the stem is obscure. Related: Nipped; nipping. To nip (something) in the bud in the figurative sense is first recorded c.1600.

nip

"small measure of spirits," 1796, shortening of nipperkin (1670s) "quantity of liquor of a half pint or less," possibly of Dutch or Low German origin (compare German Nipp "sip, taste") and related to nip (v.). Reinforced by nip (n.2) on notion of "fragment or bit pinched off" (c.1600).

Wiktionary
nip

Etymology 1 n. A small quantity of something edible or a potable liquor. Etymology 2

n. (context vulgar English) A nipple, usually of a woman. Etymology 3

n. 1 A playful bite. 2 A pinch with the nails or teeth. 3 brisk cold weather. 4 A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, in the northern seas, the nip of masses of ice. 5 A small cut, or a cutting off the end. 6 A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost. 7 A biting sarcasm; a taunt. 8 (context nautical English) A short turn in a rope. Nip and tuck, a phrase signifying equality in a contest. [Low, U.S.] 9 The place of intersection where one roll touches another in papermaking. 10 (context historical slang English) A pickpocket. vb. 1 To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon. 2 To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip. 3 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. Etymology 4

vb. To make a quick, short journey or errand; usually roundtrip.

Related phrases:
WordNet
nip

  1. n. a small drink of liquor; "he poured a shot of whiskey" [syn: shot]

  2. a person of Japanese descent [syn: Jap]

  3. a tart spiciness [syn: piquance, piquancy, tang, tanginess, zest]

  4. a small drink [syn: sip]

  5. small sharp biting [syn: pinch]

  6. [also: nipping, nipped]

nip

  1. v. squeeze tightly between the fingers; "He pinched her behind"; "She squeezed the bottle" [syn: pinch, squeeze, twinge, tweet, twitch]

  2. give a small sharp bite to; "The Queen's corgies always nip at her staff's ankles"

  3. sever or remove by pinching or snipping; "nip off the flowers" [syn: nip off, clip, snip, snip off]

  4. [also: nipping, nipped]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Nip

Nip is an ethnic slur against people of Japanese descent and origin, similar to the ethnic slur Jap.

NIP (model theory)

In model theory, a branch of mathematical logic, a complete theory T is said to satisfy NIP (or "not the independence property") if none of its formulae satisfy the independence property, that is if none of its formulae can pick out any given subset of an arbitrarily large finite set.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "nip".

Snuffling loudly, she came close enough to nip at it and Alec snagged her by the head stall.

The only Englishmen likely to be out and about, though, were curbers and flicks and nips and high lawyers: thieves and robbers who might have a professional interest, as it were, in making his acquaintance.

But a steady stream of the lovely birds flashed downward, nipping at Erith with quick tilts of cutting beaks, then winging away with undiminished speed.

I must be content to abide by his judgment, and if I did not nip the affair in the bud there would be nothing for it but to remove Fanny from our care.

No alcoholic beverages would be served at the fantasia, and Cyrus enjoyed a preprandial nip of whiskey.

Her faultless nature, one sum of perfections, is wrapt up in her affections--if they were hurt, she would droop like an unwatered floweret, and the slightest injury they receive is a nipping frost to her.

Much vegetation had been nipped by early frost, and storms blew in every other day, roaring across the Pan Woods to rot what little provender remained and force the unicorns to spend full as much time huddling underhill as they did foraging for food.

But first old Giles must have a taste of food to put strength in his feeble old body, and a nip of wine to steady his torn and tortured nerves.

No craggy nor rockie places, nipt and blasted with sharpe windes, nor burnt with an vntemperate hotte Sunne, but vnder a sweet and pleasant temperature, in a moderate meane reioycing, betwixt two extreemes, the fields fruitful and without tillage and manuring, yeelding all commodities, warme hilles, greene woods and sweet coole shadowes.

But, after nipping off several choice hunks, the creature had no trouble regaining flight by running the length of the neck and flapping its massive furred wings a couple of times.

Just after Hamilton Place a bus went by, pulling away from the kerb, and I nipped on to it, giving him room to follow.

Even the two helmeted soldiers Kindy saw, evidently on fire watch, took furtive nips from covered bottles and wavered when walking.

Koolee, and Monnie, and Nip and Tup all ran to meet the hunters, and you never saw two prouder boys than Koko and Menie when they showed the reindeer to their mothers.

He massaged both and surprised her by laving her pussy, nipping her clit.

It had lidless eyes and horrible writhing hair that was a mass of eels with tiny sharp teeth nipping at her face.