The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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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. -
To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
The small shoots . . . must be nipped off.
--Mortimer. Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
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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.
Usage examples of "to nip in the bud".
Atlan, the Immortal, assumed power in Arkon after defeating the gigantic machine that used merciless robot fleets to nip in the bud all revolutions against the central power of Arkon, and he wanted peace as well.
The Eighth Air Force was determined to nip in the bud a recently surfaced British resentment toward their American cousins.
He wanted, in fact, to nip in the bud any idea of hers that she would enjoy with him the same close personal relationship she was supposed to have with Bill Donovan.
Released from the schoolroom, we were all loud and jubilant and I nearly kinked my neck trying to keep all the kids in sight at once to nip in the bud any thoughtless lifting or other Group activity.
She had been the one to nip in the bud any possibility of physical love between them, and she had sometimes regretted that.
A start, a fidgety shifting of the position, yes, even a violent sneeze, has been known before now to prove fatal to the incautious, and to nip in the bud many a promising friendship.