GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 3 definitions
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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.
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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.
[1913 Webster] 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.
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2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
[1913 Webster] The small shoots . . . must be nipped off. Mortimer.
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3. Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
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4. To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt.
[1913 Webster] And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip. Spenser.
[1913 Webster] To nip in the bud, to cut off at the very commencement of growth; to kill in the incipient stage.
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Nip, n.
1. A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, “in the northern seas, the nip of masses of ice”.
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2. A pinch with the nails or teeth.
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3. A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
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4. A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
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5. A biting sarcasm; a taunt. Latimer.
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6. (Naut.) A short turn in a rope.
[1913 Webster] 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.]
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