Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To seize and pinch or bite.
- intransitive verb To remove or sever by pinching or snipping.
- intransitive verb To bite or sting with the cold; chill.
- intransitive verb To check or cut off the growth or development of.
- intransitive verb To snatch up hastily.
- intransitive verb To take (the property of another) unlawfully; steal.
- intransitive verb To move quickly; dart.
- noun The act or an instance of seizing or pinching.
- noun A pinch or snip that cuts off or removes a small part.
- noun The small bit or portion so removed.
- noun A sharp, stinging quality, as of frosty air.
- noun Severely sharp cold or frost.
- noun A cutting remark.
- noun A sharp, biting flavor; a tang.
- noun A small amount of liquor.
- intransitive verb To sip (alcoholic liquor) in small amounts.
- intransitive verb To take a sip or sips of alcoholic liquor.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A short steep ascent.
- noun A hill or mountain.
- noun Mist; darkness.
- noun A turnip.
- noun The place of contact between two cylinders, rollers, or bowls.
- noun To take a new hold; refresh the memory.
- To cut a low cliff in (the border of the land) by wave action.
- To press sharply and tightly between two surfaces or points, as of the fingers; pinch.
- Figuratively, to press closely upon; affect; concern.
- To sever or break the edge or end of by pinching; pinch (off) with the ends of the fingers or with pincers or nippers: with off.
- To blast, as by frost; destroy; check the growth or vigor of.
- To affect with a sharp tingling sensation; benumb.
- To bite; sting.
- To satirize keenly; taunt sarcastically; vex.
- To steal, pilfer; purloin.
- To snatch up hastily.
- to tie or secure a cable with nippers to the messenger.
- noun A low cliff cut in the border of land near the sea.
- noun A sip or small draught, especially of some strong spirituous beverage: as, a, nip of brandy.
- To take a dram or nip. See
nip , n. - In cricket:
- To catch neatly: said of a fielder.
- To break sharply: said of a bowled ball.
- noun The act of compressing between two opposing surfaces or points, as in seizing and compressing a bit of the skin between the fingers; a pinch.
- noun A closing in of ice about a vessel so as to press upon or crush her.
- noun A pinch which severs or removes a part; a snipping, biting, or pinching off.
- noun A small bit of anything; as much as may be nipped off by the finger and thumb.
- noun A check to growth from a sudden blasting or attack from frost or cold; a sharp frost-bite which kills the tips or ends of a plant or leaf.
- noun A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
- noun A thief; a pickpocket.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Mr. Ditton, the village lawyer, also saw it without having recourse to the spy-glass; but as Mr. Ditton had but lately had what he called a nip, and indeed several of them, he was in that happy state of sweet good nature which agrees with the last speaker.
The Mad Lady 1916
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I've just had a course of five, which was prompted by a nip from a stray cat, which I feed, here in India.
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If his sister got a nip from the other dog, the brother would fight harder.
Waldo Jaquith - You’re never anonymous on the internet. 2007
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Back at the residence, Nasrah took a nip from the prince's bottle of 150-year-old Napoleon.
Florence of Arabia 2004
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Back at the residence, Nasrah took a nip from the prince's bottle of 150-year-old Napoleon.
Florence of Arabia 2004
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I reached in my desk drawer and pulled out a "nip" - one of those little bottles of booze you see up by the cash register in a liquor store.
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Whether it is bought by the case or by the bottle - or the 'nip' - averag income drinkers are expecting to face increases that will, by some stretch, force them to compromise their tastes.
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Most moonshine is drunk by African-Americans in unlicensed bars called nip joints or shot houses.
CHASING the WHITE DOG MAX WATMAN 2010
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Most moonshine is drunk by African-Americans in unlicensed bars called nip joints or shot houses.
CHASING the WHITE DOG MAX WATMAN 2010
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Most moonshine is drunk by African-Americans in unlicensed bars called nip joints or shot houses.
CHASING the WHITE DOG MAX WATMAN 2010
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