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单词 nip
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nipn.1

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/, Scottish English /nɪp/, /nip/
Forms: Middle English nippe, Middle English nype; English regional 1800s– nip; Scottish (Shetland) 1800s– neep, 1900s– niep, 1900s– nip.
Origin: Probably of multiple origins. Probably a borrowing from early Scandinavian. Partly also a borrowing from Norn.
Etymology: Probably < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic gnípa (Icelandic gnípa , nípa ), Faroese nípa , Norwegian nipe , Norwegian (Bokmål) nip , Swedish regional nipa , nipe , all in sense ‘mountain peak’); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Old Icelandic hnípa to be downcast, droop (see neeb v.). In Shetland use < the unattested Norn reflex of the early Scandinavian word represented by the Scandinavian forms listed above. Sc. National Dict. s.v. Neep n.2 records the word as still in use in the sense ‘crag, peak, promontory’ in Shetland in 1963. Frequently in descriptive place names in Shetland. Attested earlier as a place-name element, compare: Nipisend (1297), Nepeshende (1361), now Neepsend, West Riding, Yorkshire.
Now British regional.
A hill, a crag. Now also (English regional): a steep ascent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun]
cloudc893
downOE
hillc1000
penOE
holmc1275
woldc1275
clotc1325
banka1393
knotc1400
nipc1400
rist1577
kop1835
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > crag > [noun]
stonec825
knara1250
scar13..
craga1375
nipc1400
knag1552
knee1590
jag1831
man1897
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. 162 Out of þe nippe [c1400 C text nype] of þe north nouȝt ful fer hennes.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) That nip at loan heeod ho-ins t'horses sadly.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 57 This is a sharp nip for the horses.
1884 Cent. Mag. Mar. 775/2 [Surrey] ‘Up to the top of the nip’, for hill, was one of his expressions.
a1903 M. A. Courtney in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 278/1 [West Cornwall] You need not get out of the carriage, it is only a short nip.
1932 A. Horsbøl tr. J. Jakobsen Etymol. Dict. Norn Lang. in Shetland II. (at cited word) De Nip o' Norwick... De Nort' and de Wast [‘west’] Nips.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

nipn.2

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/
Forms: late Middle English nib- (in compounds), 1500s–1600s 1800s nip, 1600s nipp.
Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: nep n.1
Etymology: Variant of nep n.1 Compare Dutch nippe (see nepte n.). Compare earlier nepte n., and perhaps also neep n.
English regional (East Anglian) in later use.
Catmint, catnip.Also (occasionally) more fully nipherb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > catnip
nepteOE
catminta1300
cat-worta1450
nepa1475
nepeta1633
nip1651
catnip1775
catnep1806
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > herb > [noun] > mint
minteOE
spearmint1562
nip1651
orange mint1699
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > plant used in medicine > specific plant
hyssopc1000
sionc1000
tunhoofc1000
poppyOE
camomilea1300
orobusa1398
tithymala1400
tutsana1400
Thapsiac1400
melissa?a1425
hallelujahc1425
turmeric1538
succory1541
balin1546
English treacle1548
treacle mustard1548
rhabarb1558
Thlaspi1562
treacle clover1562
holy herb1567
lungwort1578
solanum1578
lightwort1587
neezing wort1591
Alexander's Foot1597
burst-wort1597
symphonia1597
wound-herb1597
leper's herb1600
all bones1633
schoenanth1633
nip1651
wound-shrub1659
hermodact1678
jusquiam1727
Algerian tea1728
Australian tea1728
strongback1739
silphium1753
belladonna1788
foxglove1801
ledum1822
yercum1826
lungs of oak1856
strong man's weed1864
conium1866
short-long1871
fever grass1875
?a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 62 (MED) After, take þe ius of nibherbe and morel.
1599 H. Buttes Dyets Dry Dinner sig. F8v Endive..eaten with Nip, the stalkes of Mint, Rew, and svch hot hearbes.
1651 J. French Art Distillation ii. 61 Take of the Leaves of..Nippe, Peny-royall, of each 2 handfull.
1683 T. Tryon Way to Health 562 They purge their nauseous Stomachs by eating of Grass, as Cats do theirs by eating the Herb Nipp.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) II. 230 Nep, nip, the herb cat-mint,..which being covered with a fine white down has given rise to the common similie, ‘as white as nip.’
1882 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 18 214/2 Suffolk Names—..‘brakes’ (brachen); ‘nip’ (cat-mint); ‘gottridge’ (gelder-rose).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

nipn.3

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/
Forms: 1500s nyp, 1500s nypp, 1500s nyppe, 1500s 1700s nipp, 1500s–1600s nippe, 1500s– nip; Scottish pre-1700 nipp, pre-1700 1700s– nip.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: nip v.1
Etymology: < nip v.1With sense 9 perhaps compare also nip n.4
I. An act of nipping; a nipping quality.
†1. A sharp remark or comment; a slight rebuke, reproof, or sarcasm. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > caustic or ironic ridicule > [noun] > instance of
gesta1387
quippy1519
quip1532
irony1534
nip1549
taunta1566
slent?1567
gamegall1577
yark1577
veny1586
jerk1590
wipe1596
glance1602
satire1606
by-wipe1641
quib1656
trait1704
skit1727
slant1825
ironism1842
wiper1846
by-quip1855
satirization1868
snapper1890
crack1896
1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Rivv Herto serve the manyfolde nippes and taunts wherwith Christ in divers places..bayteth Pharisees, Scribes and Doctours of Law.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xxvii. 43 A prety fashioned poeme..in which euery mery conceited man might..giue a prettie nip, or shew a sharp conceit in few verses.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xviii. 159 When ye giue a mocke vnder smooth and lowly wordes..the Greeks call it (charientismus) we may call it the priuy nippe.
1604 S. Hieron Preachers Plea in Wks. (1620) I. 476 It was truly said of him,..that, amongst men, nothing can scape without a nippe.
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. C2v Many a dry bob, close gird, and privy nip has he given him.
1738 tr. S. Guazzo Art of Conversat. 56 The next kind of ill Tongues..chop upon you with short nips.
1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. p. xiii Many a shrewd nip has he in old days given to the Philistines, this editor.
2.
a. The act of compressing or catching something between two edges, points, etc.; a pinch; a sharp bite.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > [noun] > nipping or pinching > a nip or pinch
nip1551
nipe1572
nib1874
1551 T. Cranmer Answer S. Gardiner 95 In the laste booke you gyue Christ suche a nyppe, that of that whole satisfaction you pynche halfe away from hym.
1573 T. Tusser Points Huswifrie (new ed.) f. 27v, in Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) What bobbed lips, what Ierks, what nipps!
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 35 Snub his top with a nip betwixt your finger and your thumb.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 181 The dreadfulness of a grim nip, and a dead-doing gripe.
1790 D. Morison Poems 190 Ye'll find it smarter than an adder's nip.
1817 J. Keats I stood Tip-toe 144 What amorous and fondling nips They gave each other's cheeks.
1857 W. Brookes Brit. Patent 2612 (1858) 1 When by no nip thereof taking place the fibre will remain stationary.
1889 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Pigsticking 133 A judiciously applied nip of his sharp little jaws.
1906 J. London White Fang v. iv. 313 Collie's teeth were no longer sharp. There was a playfulness about her nips and a gentleness that prevented them from really hurting him.
1978 A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden iii. xxxii. 294 Crowe..gave her a nip, and then something of a bite, on the lips.
1998 Wildlife News (Berks., Bucks. & Oxon Naturalists' Trust) 4/1 This fierce-looking creature is quite harmless, although the female may give you a nip when handled.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1846 W. Greener Sci. Gunnery (new ed.) 134 This fraudulent gain..is called in Birmingham, ‘a nip—biting the yokels’.
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors II. vi. 134 Skepsey heard, with a nip of spite at his bosom, a small body of them singing in chorus as they walked.
1902 Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. 14 44 In stock breeding..a check, or, as it is expressively called, ‘a nip of hunger’, is a mistake not easily remedied.
1969 R. Wilbur New & Coll. Poems (1988) 132 It was the nip of fear that told us.
1997 C. Shields Larry's Party iii. 44 ‘Your mother's got a nip of the blues today,’ Stu Weller used to tell his kids.
c. Australian and New Zealand colloquial. to put the nips in (also into): to borrow or cadge from (a person), to ask for a loan. Cf. to put the bite on at bite n. Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > borrowing > borrow [verb (transitive)] > ask as a loan
to ask in borrowingc1570
to put the nips in1917
1917 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 19 Sept. 63 I put the nips in the other night.
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 564/1 Put the nips in(to, to ask a loan (from a person): Australian and New Zealand: from ca. 1908.
1949 L. Glassop Lucky Palmer 230 You can't put the nips into old Alf. He's got death adders in his pockets.
1955 D. Niland Shiralee 41 He was here yesterday, too. Put the nips into me for tea and sugar and tobacco in his usual style.
1973 F. Huelin Keep Moving 48 Parsons, priests, doctors, lawyers and professional people generally were legitimate prey, and we had no scruples about ‘putting the nips’ into them.
3.
a. A severe check to the growth of vegetation caused by cold; the effect of sharp cold upon plants or animals. Also: the quality in wind or weather which produces this; a feeling of biting cold (esp. in a nip in the air).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > [noun] > exposure to frost > damaging by intense cold or frost
frostbiting1562
nip1614
1614 D. Dyke Myst. Selfe-deceiuing v. 87 The flattering of the Sunne raies often drawes forth the blossomes very earely: but afterward come cold nippes.
1645 J. Milton Epit. Marchioness of Winchester in Poems 25 So have I seen som tender slip Sav'd with care from Winters nip.
1684 G. Stepney To Earl of Carlisle 61 So hasty fruits and too ambitious flow'rs,..find a nip untimely as their birth.
1873 A. D. Whitney Other Girls iii. 20 Dismal mornings of waterproofs..and blue nips and shivers.
1890 Cent. Mag. June 277/2 They say we are to have a taste of rough weather, and I begin to feel an icy nip in the air.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage cxviii. 626 There was a nip in the air; but the sky was cloudless, and the sun was shining yellow.
1983 Punch 1 June (Summer No.) 30/3 An unexpected sprinkling of rain,..a nip of cold, and they rush out to see if it has made the headlines.
2000 Calgary (Alberta) Sun (Electronic ed.) 14 Dec. Nothing like a nip of winter in the air to get the hockey blood flowing.
b. A pungent or stinging quality, a tang; a sharp or pungent flavour.
ΚΠ
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word) Bread, and especially cheese, is said to have a nip, when it tastes sharp or pungent.
1889 J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums v. 38 Lads, humour's what gies the nip to speakin'.
1894 A. S. Robertson Provost o' Glendookie 62 I dinna like whiskey wi' a nip.
1992 Daily Tel. 4 Apr. (Weekend section) p. xix/5 Baden Pinot Noir..has all the delightful gentle fruit flavours of the Pinot..but it is assertive enough to boast a pretty deep colour and a nip of tannin.
4. Nautical.
a. The pressure or grip of a rope at a point where it is twisted round something; the part of a rope held fast in this way; any short, sharply curving part of a rope.See also to freshen the nip at freshen v. Phrases 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > part of rope twisted round something
nip1672
1672 J. Narbrough Jrnl. 18 July in R. C. Anderson Jrnls. & Narr. Third Dutch War (1946) (modernized text) 118 The cable stranded in the nip of the hawse.
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 116 Nip, a short turn in a rope.
1859 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem II. lxviii. 9 There wanted what sailors call ‘freshening the nip’. Let us try how the new nip will hold, before we insist too rashly on returning to the old.
1862 Internat. Exhib.: Illustr. Catal. Industr. Dept. II. xii. §2659 The nip of the blocks exists only when they sustain the weight of the boat, and ceases when it reaches the water.
1961 F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 98 Freshen the nip, veer or haul slightly so that a rope may be moved a little.
1987 I. Dear & P. Kemp Sailing Terms (1992) 119/2 Nip, the name given by seamen to a short turn or twist in a rope or hawser.
†b. The crushing effect of the pressure exerted by sea ice on the sides of a vessel; an instance of this. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > [noun] > on sides of a ship
nip1835
the world > the earth > water > ice > body of ice > [noun] > floe > crushing together of floes > pressure on sides of vessel
nip1835
1835 J. F. Cooper Monikins I. xiv. 223 The Walrus was gradually lifted out of the water, maintaining her upright position, in consequence of the powerful nip of the floes.
1849 J. F. Cooper Sea Lions II. xiv. 195 Jim, there's been a wrack, or a nip, up yonder, among the ice.
1878 A. H. Markham Great Frozen Sea xxvi. 389 On the following morning we sustained a slight ‘nip’, caused by the ice setting rapidly in toward us.
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous v That terrible ‘nip’ of '71, when twelve hundred men were made homeless on the ice.
5. Cricket.
†a. A slight touch or stroke given to the ball by a batter; a tip. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [noun] > types of stroke
long ball1744
nip1752
catch1816
no-hit1827
cut1833
short hit1833
draw1836
drive1836
square hit1837
skylarker1839
skyer1840
skyscraper1842
back-cut1845
bum1845
leg sweep1846
slog1846
square cut1850
driver1851
Harrow drive1851
leg slip1852
poke1853
snick1857
snorter1859
leg stroke1860
smite1861
on-drive1862
bump ball1864
rocketer1864
pull1865
grass trimmer1867
late cut1867
off-drive1867
spoon1871
push1873
push stroke1873
smack1875
Harrow drive1877
pull-stroke1880
leg glance1883
gallery-hit1884
boundary-stroke1887
glide1888
sweep1888
boundary1896
hook1896
leg glide1896
backstroke1897
flick1897
hook stroke1897
cover-drive1898
straight drive1898
square drive1900
edger1905
pull-drive1905
slash1906
placing stroke1907
push drive1912
block shot1915
if-shot1920
placing shot1921
cow-shot1922
mow1925
Chinese cut1937
haymaker1954
hoick1954
perhapser1954
air shot1956
steepler1959
mishook1961
swish1963
chop-
1752 Game at Cricket in New Universal Mag. Nov. 582/2 Each umpire is the sole judge of all nips and catches..at his own wicket.
1752 Game at Cricket in New Universal Mag. Nov. 581/2 A stroke or nip over or under his bat.
b. A quality in the wicket or in a bowler's delivery that makes the ball move or rise briskly off the pitch with an apparent increase in pace.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > manner of bowling > specific
fast bowling1816
lobbing1824
bias bowling1833
windmill1867
fast-medium1890
flick1897
whip1903
swerve-bowling1930
body line1933
tweaking1949
swing bowling1953
spin-bowling1955
seam-bowling1956
pace bowling1958
nip1963
wrist-spinning1963
1963 A. Ross Australia 63 iii. 75 Coldwell had been varying pace and direction skilfully and only that lack of final nip which Bedser possessed prevented him from being even more troublesome.
1982 M. Brearly Phoenix from Ashes 83 Afterwards, batting was much easier. Alderman lacked his earlier nip and tended to overpitch.
1984 Wisden Cricket Monthly Mar. Though the spinners did manage to turn the ball, they could not get the necessary nip out of the wicket.
†6. Nautical. A method of steering (see quot. 1803). Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1803 Man in Moon 3 Dec. (1804) 54 If they get to the windward of our cruizers, it must be with a Hammond's nip. Note, A Hammond's nip is a fine perfection in steering, by which it is possible to weather a point, or a vessel, not practicable to do by any other means.
II. A person who or thing which nips.
7.
†a. slang. A pickpocket; a cutpurse. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > pickpocket or cutpurse > [noun]
pickpursec1385
pursepick?a1513
purse-picker1549
nipper1585
nip1591
purser1640
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage To Rdr. sig. B4 The nippe, which the common people call a Cut-purse.
1592 Greenes Groats-worth of Witte sig. E2 He learnd the legerdemaines of nips, foystes, connycatchers, crosbyters.
1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle vi. 113 One of them is a nip, I took him in the two-penny gallery at the Fortune.
1630 J. Taylor Wks. iii. 8/2 He..by sleight of hand Can play the Foist, the Nip, the Stale.
1658 R. Brathwait Age of Apes in Honest Ghost 231 Pimps, nips, and tints, prinados, highway standers, All which were my familiars.
b. Chiefly English regional. A person who is careful with money or drives a hard bargain; one who gets something for nothing. In early use also: †a cheat (obsolete). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > collusion, intrigue > [noun] > practitioner > illegal passengers
nip1823
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Nip, a Cheat.
1787 W. Marshall Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Norfolk II. 384 Nip, a near, split-farthing house-wife.
1823 T. De Quincey tr. ‘F. Laun’ King of Hayti in London Mag. Nov. 525 Passengers who are taken up on stage coaches by the collusion of the guard and coachman, without the knowledge of the proprietors, are called nips.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) II. 232 Nip, a parsimonious housewife.
1853 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Provincialisms Sussex (ed. 2) 63 Nip, one who is a close and sharp bargain maker, Just honest and no more.
a1895 T. Holderness MS Note in F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness (Eng. Dial. Dict copy, 1877) in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 277/2 Nip [a niggardly, parsimonious person, a stingy fellow].
8.
a. Chiefly in plural. An implement which nips; clippers, pincers, tongs, or the like. Also a pair of nips. Cf. nipper n.1 5.In quot. 1699 cant.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > coining > [noun] > tools used in coining > shears
nip1592
1592–3 in F. G. Emmison Essex Wills (1998) (modernized text) XI. 72 2 augers, a chisel, a goudge [sic], and a ‘nippe’.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Nipps, the shears with which Money was won't to be Clipt.
1966 Random House Dict. Eng. Lang. 968/1 Nip,..17. Usually, nips. Nipper (def. 2).
1983 Age (Melbourne) 15 Sept. 2/5 Favorite utensils and props for the laborer at lunchtime include ‘bricks, bar stools, a square of reo, bricky's trowel, and pair of steel-fixer's nips’.
1986 Financial Times (Nexis) 25 Jan. (Weekend FT section) p. xv Six George II teaspoons and a pair of sugar nips, attributed to Francis Harrache, London, circa 1750.
b. In an apparatus for combing wool or silk: a piece of the mechanism which catches and carries forward the material. Frequently attributive, esp. in nip comb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > combing > machine > other parts
card board1420
card can1815
bend1882
nip1884
mote knife1896
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted (ed. 2) 109 The Noble combs are supplanting the nips.
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted (ed. 2) 91 The Nip comb..is in two parts: the screw gill box with the nip motion [etc.].
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 63/2 The silk is caught and cleaned off the endless comb by pairs of endless revolving nips.
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 63/2 These laps..are taken to the circular nip combing machine.
1910 W. S. Murphy Textile Industries II. viii. 105 (heading) The Lister or Nip Comb.
1950 ‘Mercury’ Dict. Textile Terms 521/1 The Lister Circular nip comb with gill box for long wools.
1982 D. T. Jenkins & K. G. Ponting Brit. Wool Textile Industry 344 Nip comb, a type of combing machine.
c. The narrow gap or area of contact between two rollers; the rollers themselves.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > roller > gap between rollers
nip1884
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted 250 Nip of rollers, the point where a pair of rollers touch each other, and where, consequently, they hold or nip the wool.
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted iii. 35 The lowest rollers..have their nip below the level of the suds.
1946 A. J. Hall Standard Handbk. Textiles iv. 171 The fabric receives a light squeeze as it passes between the nip of the mangle rollers.
1969 W. R. R. Park Plastics Film Technol. ii. 12 Aluminium foil is made by passing hot sheet through a series of hot, highly polished, precision finished metal roll nips.
1989 Designer's Guide Paper & Board Oct. 17/1 The fact that low grammage papers are very flexible also assists the contact with ink in the printing nip.
III. The result of nipping.
9. A small portion, esp. one pinched off from something; a fragment, a little bit, a snippet. Now chiefly colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a piece or bit > small piece
fingereOE
snedec1000
seed?a1200
morselc1300
bittlock?a1400
farthingc1405
spota1413
lipetc1430
offe?1440
drewc1450
remnantc1450
parcel1483
crap1520
flakec1525
patch1528
spark1548
a piece1559
sparklec1570
inch1573
nibbling?1577
scantling1585
scrat1593
mincing1598
scantle1598
halfpenny1600
quantity1600
nip1606
kantch1608
bit1609
catch1613
scripa1617
snap1616
sippeta1625
crumblet1634
scute1635
scantleta1642
snattock1654
cantlet1700
tab1729
pallion1738
smallness1818
knobble1823
wisp1836
1606 H. Charteris tr. R. Rollock Comm. 2 Thess. 140 If thou hast not laboured,..looke that thou put not a nip in thy mouth.
1730 A. Ramsay Fox & Rat in Fables & Tales 42 [He] chews the warrant a' in little nips.
1795 Robin Hood & Beggar xix, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. 160/2 Think not..that I fear thee any whit For thy curn nips of sticks.
1828 D. M. Moir Life Mansie Wauch xxiii. 351 Water, wi' twa or three nips o' braxy floating about in't.
1850 O. Gilbert Narr. Sojourner Truth 93 Eating a nip of bread and drinking a little wine won't do any good.
1865 D. Masson Recent Brit. Philos. iv. 292 The minutest..animalcule has its little nip of a cosmos.
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham (ed. 2) I. 371 Nip,..gie me a nip o' 'bacca, I ha'n't moän e' my box.
1893 A. S. Swan Homespun xii I wadna mind a nip o' the shortbreid an' a drink o' milk.
1997 New Scientist 14 June 26/2 They'll take just the tiniest nip of any new food, and if it makes them feel off-colour they'll never go near it again.
10. Coal Mining. An interval or interruption in a coal seam, where the strata above and below the seam meet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > pinching
nip1817
want1854
1817 Trans. Geol. Soc. London 4 30 Nips, where the coal nearly disappears, the floor and the roof coming into contact.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 965 Nips, occasioned by the gradual approximation of the roof and pavement, till not a vestige of coal is left between them.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Guiding Bed, a thin band or seam of coal, &c., in a nip leading to the regular seam on either side of it.
1964 A. Nelson Dict. Mining 301 Nip-out or nip, the thinning of a coal seam so that the roof and floor come together.
1967 I. A. Williamson Coal Mining Geol. xvi. 193/1 Roof, rock rolls or nips are particularly common where a seam is overlaid by a sandstone or conglomeratic roof.
11. Geology. A low cliff cut along a gently sloping coastline by wave action; (also) a notch cut along the base of a pre-existing coastal cliff by wave action.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > ledge or terrace > [noun] > cut by waves
platform1813
shore platform1895
nip1897
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > cliff > [noun] > sea-cliff
sea-cliffc888
cliffeOE
face1632
nip1897
1897 Geogr. Jrnl. 9 542 Where the aggradation begins at the shoreline at the foot of the earlier formed ‘nip’.
1919 D. W. Johnson Shore Processes v. 259 If the lagoon waves are too feeble, the nip may be entirely lacking.
1942 C. A. Cotton Geomorphol. (ed. 3) xxix. 409 Erosion may be so rapid that in cliffs of tough, unjointed rock a nip is cut—that is, a notch along the base, above which the cliff overhangs.
1976 Earth Sci. 29 237/1 The clues in identifying changes in sea level are: wave-cut terraces, sea cliffs, nips, [etc.].
1988 Jrnl. Coastal Res. 4 381 Intertidal erosion creates terraces and nips which lie near low-tide level.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

nipn.4

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/
Forms: 1700s nyp, 1700s– nip.
Origin: Apparently formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: nipperkin n.
Etymology: Apparently shortened < nipperkin n. Compare later nipper n.2 Perhaps compare also nip n.3 9.
Originally: †a half-pint or less of ale (obsolete). In later use: a small quantity of spirits, usually less than a glass; a small measure or sip of any (usually strong) drink, esp. one taken hurriedly or surreptitiously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > [noun] > specific quantity of
cue1603
cee1605
jug?1635
gun1674
ale kilderkin1704
swank1726
nip1736
pint1742
pt.1850
yard of ale1872
square1882
half1888
butcher1889
rabbit1895
rigger1911
sleever1936
tank1936
middy1941
tallboy1956
tube1969
tinnie1974
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > liquid measure of capacity > specific units of liquid measure > pint > half-pint
semiciclec1440
nip1736
half1888
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [noun] > small quantity of
nipper1844
nip1869
jigger1870
tickler1889
nippy sweetie1974
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [noun] > specific quantity of
dramc1590
leaguer1712
finger1820
glassful1841
four1869
nip1869
half1888
two1894
snifter1910
treble1968
balloon1973
triple1981
peg2003
1736 B. Lynde Diary 19 Mar. in B. Lynde & B. Lynde Diaries (1880) 66 I treated Mr. Eben. Flagg with a nip of punch at Withered's.
1752 J. Green Heroic Poem in E. G. Breslaw Rec. Tuesday Club Annapolis (1988) 381 And thought a Cool pipe and a Nip' Still was good.
1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Nyp or Nip, a half pint, a nip of ale; whence the nipperkin, a small vessel.
1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Nyp Shop,..where Burton ale is sold in nyps.
1815 D. Humphreys Yankey in Eng. v. 97 I'll wage a nip of toddy, or venture a mug of slip, or a hull quart of sillybub, he's her lovyier.
1824 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 15 441 Sit down to drink his Burton at 3d. the nip.
1869 A. Trollope He knew he was Right I. xvi. 123 A so-called nip of brandy will create hilarity, or, at least, alacrity.
1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 23 July 7/1 (advt.) Meuxs' English ale and stout..per dozen nips $1.75.
c1924 A. F. Hunter Year on Monitor (1987) 41 An early ‘nip’ of coffee.
1982 E. Simpson Poets in their Youth vi. 143 She could hide a flask, so that when she visited the religious ladies she could duck into the bathroom and have a nip.
1999 I. Rankin Dead Souls ix. 55 He stopped off at a couple of waterfront bars, a pint in one, nip of whisky in the other.

Compounds

nip bottle n. a miniature bottle for spirits or other alcoholic drink.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > bottle > for liquor
bombard1598
ingestar1611
flask1693
champagne bottle1772
magnum bonum1785
magnum1788
jeroboam1816
rehoboam1841
imperial1858
hock-bottle1892
Nebuchadnezzar1913
nip bottle1915
Balthazar1935
Methuselah1935
Salmanazar1935
miniature1939
1915 A. D. Gillespie Let. 15 May in Lett. from Flanders (1916) 150 The etcetera now includes goggles, respirators, and ‘nip bottles’ of chemicals.
1939 Sun (Baltimore) 18 Aug. 24/7 A hearing by the Liquor Board on the advisability of banning the sale of miniature, or ‘nip’ bottles of alcoholic drink.
2001 Southland (N.Z.) Times (Nexis) 22 Jan. 4 Among the property stolen were..a mixture of miniature nip bottles and a large toolbox.
nip joint n. U.S. slang an establishment illegally selling (small quantities of) spirits.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tavern or public house > illegal drinking-house
shebeenc1787
joint1821
kiddleywink1830
blind tiger1857
shanty1862
dive1871
blind-pig1887
speakeasy1889
shebeen1900
booze can1905
speak1930
speako1931
nip joint1936
1936 Sun (Baltimore) 28 Jan. 9/1 The bills were opposed by..Raye O. Lawson,..who said the legislation would increase bootlegging and ‘nip joints’.
1980 Washington Post (Nexis) 22 Jan. c1 Federal officials said moonshine from Franklin County has been traced to various ‘nip joints’ in West Virginia, North Carolina,..and Florida.
2001 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch (Nexis) 20 July b7 Two men have pleaded guilty..to allegations that they provided security for a nip joint while employed as Richmond deputy sheriffs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

Nipn.5adj.

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/
Forms: also with lower-case initial.
Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: Nippon n., Nipponese n.
Etymology: Shortened < Nippon n. or Nipponese n.
slang (originally Military, usually considered offensive).
A. n.5
A Japanese person. Also occasionally in extended use: an eastern Asian person of any nationality, esp. a Korean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Japan > [noun]
Japonian1600
Japanese1604
Japan1613
Japonite1613
Japanner1614
Nipponese1860
Japc1880
Nip1941
1941 San Francisco Chron. 31 Dec. 11/1 A beautiful scale map of the Pacific, showing how the Nips some day would attack the Philippines, Guam, Honolulu and the U. S.!
1942 Time 9 Feb. 23/3 I visited a command post in one sector where they had just rounded up a bunch of Nips.
1971 J. Osborne West of Suez i. 27 Few little Nips popping away with cameras.
1973 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 19 Aug. 12/2 Who hadn't quite made up their minds about what should be done with Hitler and Mussolini and the Nips.
1993 Newsweek 26 July 57 I was the only ticket hustler to get jailed at the Seoul Olympics..[The] Nips made me an example.
1996 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 15 Feb. 39/2 When you see a dead Nip, you won't care.
B. adj.
Japanese.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > native or inhabitant of Japan > [adjective]
Japonian1613
Japannish1851
Nipponese1859
Japanesque1883
japanned1889
Japanesey1890
Nip1942
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 31 Oct. 13 The Nip pilots.
1965 R. T. Bickers Scent of Mayhem iii. 30 La belle Pauline was a secretary at the Nip Embassy in Paris.
1970 G. Sorrentino Steelwork 84 It shows how chickenshit the nip bastards were.
1993 J. Dickey To White Sea 3 At night you fired most of the time at the flashes you saw the Nip fighters giving out.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

nipn.6

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/
Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: nipple n.
Etymology: Shortened < nipple n. Compare niplet n.
slang (originally U.S.).
A nipple. Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > breast or breasts (of woman) > [noun] > nipple
papc1175
teat?a1200
pap-head?a1425
big?a1439
wartc1440
teat headc1500
nipplec1510
spin1525
dug1530
spean1573
bud1593
milk papa1616
niplet1648
dud1679
mamilla1684
duddlea1708
diddy1788
tittya1825
knob1941
nip1970
1970 T. Southern Blue Movie iv. xx. 239 Leaning across the aisle to wake Debbie, with excessive gentleness, while managing to cop quite a bit of no-bra cashmered knocker and sleeping nip.
1972 B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 142 Nips, breast nipples.
1986 O. Clark Diary 28 Sept. (1998) 194 I cuddled his torso all the way home, tweaking his nips and drinking in his peculiar odour.
2001 Courier Mag. (Aberystwyth Univ. Students' Union) Feb. 28/3 Fun as it is, Under that skirt, Convinced I am, Your nips are pert.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

nipv.1

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/
Inflections: Present participle nipping; past tense and past participle nipped;
Forms: Middle English–1500s nyp, Middle English–1500s nyppe, Middle English–1600s nippe, 1500s–1600s nipp, 1500s– nip, 1600s nypp; English regional 1800s nipp, 1800s– nep (Yorkshire); Scottish pre-1700 nipp, pre-1700 nyp, pre-1700 1700s– nip.
Origin: Probably a borrowing from Dutch. Etymon: Dutch nīpen.
Etymology: Probably < an unattested intensive form (with doubling of consonant) of Middle Dutch nīpen to pinch (see nipe v.2); compare Dutch nippen (1644), German regional (Low German) nippen ( > German nippen (17th cent.)), German regional (Bavaria and Austria) nipfen , all in sense ‘to sip’, i.e. ‘to drink with the lips pinched together’; compare also Danish nippe to sip, nibble, nip, probably a borrowing from Dutch or Low German. With the intensive formation compare the following parallel pairs: Dutch knijpen to pinch, squeeze, and knippen to cut, clip; Middle Low German knīpen to pinch, squeeze, and knippen to flick, snap, wink, blink. Compare gnip v., knip v.
I. Senses relating to pinching or squeezing.
1.
a. transitive. To catch between two surfaces or points; to pinch, bite, squeeze sharply. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (transitive)] > compress or constrict
thrumc1275
constrainc1374
nip1381
rinea1398
compress1398
withstrainc1400
coarctc1420
pincha1425
strain1426
nipe1440
thrumble1513
comprime?1541
astrict1548
sneap1598
cling1601
wring1603
constringe1609
coarctate1620
compinge1621
choke1635
compel1657
cramp1673
hunch1738
constrict1759
tighten1853
scrunch1861
throttle1863
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > press or squeeze [verb (transitive)] > nip or pinch
twingec1000
pinchc1230
pranglec1300
nip1381
nipe1440
hinch1590
nipskin1620
pincer1864
tweezer1911
1381 [implied in: 1381 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 4 Jtem, a long laddre: also ii stoppes for melk ewen; jtem, ii Nippingires. (at nipping n.1 1)].
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. vii. 104 Thenne a-waked wratthe whit to white eyen, Whit a nyuylynge nose, nyppyng hus lyppes.
c1450 St. Erasmus in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 202 Nyppyng his body withe pynsons.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 644/1 He hath nypped me by the arme tyll it is blacke.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Eccl. xxii. 24 He that nyppeth a mans eye, bryngeth forth teares.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. x. 86 They doe bite and with their teeth nip one another.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. x. sig. I8v And sharpe Remorse his hart did prick and nip.
a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece Hist. Scotl. (Mar Lodge) xv. i. f. 575, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Nip(p This venom..eftir lang tyme..gnawand and nyppand the intrellis.
1633 R. Sanderson Serm. II. 41 Biting, and nipping, and devouring one another.
1648 R. Crashaw Steps to Temple (ed. 2) 85 Those ignoble stings, That Nip the bosome of the world's best things.
1658 T. Flatman (title) Naps upon Parnassus: a sleepy muse nipt and pincht,..by Captain Jones and others.
1728 Street-robberies, Consider'd 33 Nip, to bite.
1830 J. F. Watson Ann. Philadelphia 180 ‘Bridge spectacles’..held on the nose solely by nipping the bridge of the nose.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. xiv. 433 Throwing one leg across the other, I accidentally nipped a muscle.
1908 E. M. Forster Room with View ii. 29 She caught up an old man with white whiskers, and nipped him playfully upon the arm.
1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 661/2 Once that grandiose bug nipped Rabelais, it constricted the muscles around his ego like tetanus.
1988 S. Afr. Panorama Apr. 34/1 A fiddler crab had tried to nip her toes.
b. intransitive. To give a nip or pinch, to inflict a sharp squeeze or bite. Also: to take small bites, to nibble; to pick at.In quot. a1500 figurative: to whittle away at.
ΚΠ
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 121 Thay can nyp at oure hyre.
1653 Duchess of Newcastle Poems & Fancies 13 Pincers sharpe, which nip, and do take hold.
1712 C. Johnson Wife's Relief iii. ii. 33 Why you nip like a Flea.
1760 W. Hutton Dialogue Vulgar Lang. Storth & Arnside l. 23 I saw..two bease nippin ith Blackdyke.
1806 A. Douglas Poems 21 The flocks an' herds are spreadin' seen, The fragrant suckies nippin'.
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 118 She sat an' nippit at her dainner mair nor an oor.
1891 R. Kipling City Dreadful Night iii Machinery that planes and shaves,..and punches and hoists and nips.
1934 W. W. Gill Manx Dial. ii. 49 Hard by was Phil's bock-bedn [i.e. white gelding], Nippin' close as that grass was short.
1966 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka's Domain vii. 75 As fast as he drove off one crowd of fluttering birds, another swooped in, nipping sneakily with slashing beaks.
1991 S. Cisneros Woman Hollering Creek 159 I can be brave in the day, but nights are my Gethsemane. That pinch of the dog's teeth just as it nips.
†c. transitive. To close (a glass vessel or tube) by pressing together the heated end of the neck. Also with up. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > glass-making > make glass [verb (transitive)] > specific processes
nip1559
scald1662
found1783
deliver1809
frit1832
gather1839
to wet off, up1849
marver1852
platten1875
matt1885
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 227 When the mouthe of a Glasen Cucurbita beynge put into the hoole of the fornace,..assone as it is red hotte, it is nipte together with a paire of tonges.
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 91 Howe to nip or close a Glasse with a paire of hot tongues, which is commonlie called Sigillum Hermetis.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. iii. sig. D4v Put 'hem in a Bolts-head, nipp'd to digestion. View more context for this quotation
1651 J. French Art Distillation i. 7 The way to nip up a glasse, or seal it up Hermitically is after this manner.
1671 Philos. Trans. 1670 (Royal Soc.) 5 2047 The imprisoned Animal, should breath no other Air, then that which filled the Receiver at the time when it was nipped up.
d. transitive. To pull, squeeze, or draw in; to compress sharply; to constrict. Frequently in passive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > lack of breadth or narrowness > make narrow [verb (transitive)]
narrowa1400
strait1421
straiten1552
enstrait1581
angustate1615
nip1850
1850 [implied in: D. T. Ansted Elem. Course Geol. §1158 The levels at those places where the lode is narrow, or nipped in, are very narrow and confined. (at nipped adj. b)].
1881 J. Tyndall Ess. Floating Matter of Air 171 A pinchcock nipped the india-rubber tube at its centre.
1951 L. Town Bookbinding by Hand v. 99 If the sewing is done too tightly the book will be ‘nipped in’ at the kettle-stitches.
1986 ‘J. le Carré’ Perfect Spy xiii. 335 She wore a baggy mackintosh nipped at the waist.
1992 L. Gordon Shared Lives i. 4 Flora nipped her waist to set off stiff petticoats and forced her sturdy toes into the narrow points of ‘winkle-pickers’.
2. transitive. To rebuke or reprove; to direct sharp comments against. Cf. nip n.3 1. Now Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > rebuke or reproof > rebuke or reprove [verb (transitive)]
threac897
threapc897
begripea1000
threata1000
castea1200
chaste?c1225
takec1275
blame1297
chastya1300
sniba1300
withnima1315
undernima1325
rebukec1330
snuba1340
withtakea1340
reprovec1350
chastisea1375
arate1377
challenge1377
undertake1377
reprehenda1382
repreync1390
runta1398
snapea1400
underfoc1400
to call to account1434
to put downc1440
snebc1440
uptakec1440
correptc1449
reformc1450
reprise?c1450
to tell (a person) his (also her, etc.) own1450
control1451
redarguec1475
berisp1481
to hit (cross) one over (of, on) the thumbs1522
checkc1530
admonish1541
nip1548
twig?1550
impreve1552
lesson1555
to take down1562
to haul (a person) over the coals1565
increpate1570
touch1570
school1573
to gather up1577
task1580
redarguate?1590
expostulate1592
tutor1599
sauce1601
snip1601
sneap1611
to take in tax1635
to sharp up1647
round1653
threapen1671
reprimand1681
to take to task1682
document1690
chapter1693
repulse1746
twink1747
to speak to ——1753
haul1795
to pull up1799
carpet1840
rig1841
to talk to1860
to take (a person) to the woodshed1882
rawhide1895
to tell off1897
to tell (someone) where he or she gets off1900
to get on ——1904
to put (a person) in (also into) his, her place1908
strafe1915
tick1915
woodshed1935
to slap (a person) down1938
sort1941
bind1942
bottle1946
mat1948
ream1950
zap1961
elder1967
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke viii. 93 He touched and nipped ye pharisees and scribes.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Isocrates in Panoplie Epist. 163 Nipping your people with sharpe reprehensions.
1598 in J. Stow Suruay of London 53 The boies of diuers Schooles..with Epigrams and Rymes, nipping and quipping their fellowes.
1602 W. Fulbecke Parallele or Conf. Law ii. 26 He was..more then nipped of Aristophanes.
1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters ix ‘Are you a farmer then?’ Gourlay nipped him, with his eye on the white waistcoat.
3.
†a. transitive. To secure (a rope) by twisting it around something. Also intransitive. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > bind or fasten
to turn in?1537
frap1548
reeve1627
seize1644
nip1670
marl1704
marline1706
clinch1780
nipper1794
clench1803
to turn in1834
1670 J. Dryden & W. Davenant Shakespeare's Tempest i. 2 Nip well there; Quarter-Master, get's more Nippers.
1850 J. Ogilvie Imperial Dict. (at cited word) To nip the cable, in marine language, is to tie or secure it with a seizing.
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 488/2 To nip, to stop ropes with a gasket, or with several turns of spun yarn round each, and the ends made fast.
1897 J. Conrad Nigger of ‘Narcissus’ iii. 60 Mr. Creighton, nearly suffocated and unable to move, made a mighty effort, and with his left hand managed to nip the rope.
b. transitive. Of sea ice: to surround and trap or crush (a ship or its hull). Cf. nip n.3 4b.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > cause to suffer shipwreck [verb (transitive)] > crush
nip1852
1852 S. Osborn Stray Leaves from Arctic Jrnl. 72 Penny had passed a long way inside of the spot the steamers had been beset and nipped in.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. 123 We momentarily expected it to ‘nip’ her sides, or bear her down with the pressure.
1886 A. W. Greely 3 Years Arctic Service I. p. xiv Nipped, the situation of a ship when forcibly pressed or jammed by ice.
1937 Beaver June 13/2 The ‘Fort James’, a Company schooner, was ‘nipped’ in the ice at Tuktuk.
2000 Shetland Life Apr. Large ice lumps were coming down on them before a strong gale, and within minutes they were nipped in.
†4. transitive. Cricket. To strike (a ball) with the edge of the bat, to tip. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > hit > hit with specific stroke
take1578
stop1744
nip1752
block1772
drive1773
cut1816
draw1816
tip1816
poke1836
spoon1836
mow1844
to put up1845
smother1845
sky1849
crump1850
to pick up1851
pull1851
skyrocket1851
swipe1851
to put down1860
to get away1868
smite1868
snick1871
lift1874
crack1882
smack1882
off-drive1888
snip1890
leg1892
push1893
hook1896
flick1897
on-drive1897
chop1898
glance1898
straight drive1898
cart1903
edge1904
tonk1910
sweep1920
mishook1934
middle1954
square-drive1954
tickle1963
square-cut1976
slash1977
splice1982
paddle1986
1752 Game at Cricket in New Universal Mag. Nov. 581/2 If a ball is nipp’d up [1774 struck up], and he [sc. the striker] strikes her again wilfully before she come to the wicket, it’s out.
II. Senses relating to removal by pinching.
5.
a. transitive. To sever, remove, or take off by pinching.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > detach [verb (transitive)] > detach in other specific manner
unnaila1400
to pull offa1425
nipc1450
unlink1569
unhook1611
unhinge1616
unsling1630
to pinch off1654
untack1693
unstring1697
peel1787
unbolt1793
unthong1829
unswing1835
unshackle1840
unsnap1862
unbraze1898
delink1899
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3940 (MED) Of sum þai nyppid fra þe nebb þe nose be þe eȝen.
c1450 Treat. Fishing in J. McDonald et al. Origins of Angling (1963) 173 Take þe red worme & nyp of þe hed.
1566 T. Stapleton Returne Vntruthes Jewelles Replie Ep. As if he had nipped a saying of S. Gregory quite in the middest.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 110 The Gardners..did themselves nip of some buds.
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 34 I nipped off the small top.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 465 The small Shoots..must be nipt off.
1780 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 249 To assist Carnations in their growth and beauty, nip off all decayed leaves.
1807 R. Tannahill Soldier's Return 142 When our webs are at the close, He nips aff twa-three shillings.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 582 An assistant nips it off from the punto with a pair of long iron shears.
1872 H. Macmillan True Vine v. 220 Many of the tendrils of the vine require to be nipped off.
1927 A. C. Parker Indian How Bk. iii. xl. 178 She would take each quill, nip off the wicked point and flatten the quill with a piece of smooth, flat bone.
1998 A. Sturgeon Planted 185/1 Nip off dead flowers between thumb and forefinger or trim with secateurs.
b. transitive. Chiefly Scottish and English regional. To strip or make bare by pinching or biting; to remove small portions of, to reduce the amount of; to snip or cut close; to nibble. Sc. National Dict. s.v. records this sense as still in use in Aberdeenshire and Perthshire in 1964.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (transitive)] > gradually > by removal of pieces
parea1475
nipa1585
thwittle1593
whittle1724
fine1750
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > uncover or remove covering from [verb (transitive)] > strip or make bare > by plucking > make bare by pinching or biting
nipa1585
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)]
littleeOE
anitherOE
wanzelOE
lessc1225
slakea1300
littenc1300
aslakec1314
adminisha1325
allayc1330
settle1338
low1340
minisha1382
reprovea1382
abatea1398
rebatea1398
subtlea1398
alaskia1400
forlyten?a1400
imminish14..
lessenc1410
diminish1417
repress?a1425
assuagec1430
scarcec1440
small1440
underslakec1440
alessa1450
debate?c1450
batec1460
decreasec1470
appetisse1474
alow1494
mince1499
perswage?1504
remita1513
inless?1521
attenuate1530
weaken1530
defray1532
mitigate1532
minorate1534
narrow?1548
diminuec1550
extenuate1555
amain1578
exolve1578
base1581
dejecta1586
amoinder1588
faint1598
qualify1604
contract1605
to pull down1607
shrivel1609
to take down1610
disaugment1611
impoverish1611
shrink1628
decoct1629
persway1631
unflame1635
straiten1645
depress1647
reduce1649
detract1654
minuate1657
alloy1661
lower?1662
sinka1684
retreat1690
nip1785
to drive down1840
minify1866
to knock down1867
to damp down1869
scale1887
mute1891
clip1938
to roll back1942
to cut back1943
downscale1945
downrate1958
slim1963
downshift1972
a1585 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart 448 They kow'd all the kytrall, the face of it before; And nipped it sa doones neir, to see it was shame.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 367 You was put out of the Oven, for nipping the Pies.
1752 Philos. Trans. 1749–50 (Royal Soc.) 46 542 The Bee, when working, and finishing the Cells, nips with its Teeth the Wax, where it is too thick.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue at Nip-cheese Those gentlemen being supposed sometimes to nip, or diminish the allowance of the seamen.
1839 D. M. Moir Life Mansie Wauch (rev. ed.) xxii. 266 The milkcows were nipping the clovery parks.
1900 Cent. Mag. Dec. 300 That durn brute was shakin' his ears and nippin' grass unconcerned as a can o' green corn.
1967 H. Orton & M. F. Wakelin Surv. Eng. Dial. IV. ii. 407 Q[uestion]. When you take the rough growth off your hedges, what do you say you do to them?.. [Wiltshire] Nip.
†c. transitive. Of the sea: to cut back (a shore or cliff). Cf. nip n.3 11. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > erosion or weathering > erode [verb (transitive)] > erosion by water
undermine1398
wash?1523
gall1577
nip1897
1897 Geogr. Jrnl. 9 538 The coasts of the counties of Kent and Sussex..form a succession of headlands nipped back by the sea.
d. transitive. To put out (a cigarette, etc.) by pinching off the lit end. Also (chiefly Scottish) without construction.
ΚΠ
1969 S. Dobson Larn Yersel Geordie 29 Nipyortab doonstairs. [Gloss] Smoking is not permitted on the lower deck.
1983 K. Waterhouse In Mood xxiii. 220 I..was nipping out my cigarette preparatory to putting my free hand on her neck.
1985 J. Kelman Chancer (1987) 44 Outside the room he nipped the cigarette and wedged it behind his ear.
1996 M. Munro Compl. Patter 108 It startit rainin, so Ah'd tae nip ma fag an stick it behind ma ear.
III. Senses relating to snatching, seizing, or moving quickly.
6. transitive. Chiefly Scottish and English regional. To snatch, seize, or take quickly. Also with away, out, up.In quot. a1500 at sense 1b used intransitively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > press, squeeze, or pinch [verb (intransitive)]
thuda1225
pend?a1475
nipa1500
squeeze1692
squidge1881
mash1903
the mind > possession > taking > seizing > seize [verb (transitive)] > quickly or hurriedly
nipa1500
snatch1530
snap1550
snatch1555
snatch1563
snip1577
sneck1608
snapa1639
snap1673
snaffle1895
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > hold [verb (transitive)] > lay hold of or grasp > quickly or suddenly
cleeka1400
nipa1500
grab1589
snatch1590
snap1688
scrab1890
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 125 (MED) If the flok be skard, yit shall I nyp nere.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) 92 The moir degest and grave, The grydiar to grip it; The nycest to ressave Vpoun the nynis will nip it.
1601 F. Godwin Catal. Bishops of Eng. 123 That house..belonged vnto the Archdeaconry, but..was long since nipped away from the same.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess iii. 122 Frae your ain uncles gate was nipt awa' That bonny bairn.
1845 P. Still Cottar's Sunday 143 At last the hungry hawk doun scours, An' nips 't awa.
1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford viii. 144 She looked up and down the church,..and nipped up her petticoats.
1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh I. 113 ‘Why, if there isn't some o' them Bozzel chaps a nippin' up our rabbits.’
1880 C. B. Berry Other Side 105 He'd just nip out the pop-gun, and let him have it in the rear.
1911 J. M. Barrie Peter & Wendy iv. 62 ‘And who is to get food for us, John?’ ‘I nipped a bit out of that eagle's mouth pretty neatly, Wendy.’
1928 W. C. Fraser Yelpin' Stane 39 She wasna on the banks this mornin'; I doot the tinklers maun hae nippit her.
1981 J. Poyer Vengeance 10 i. 70 Memling searched his pockets and found the packet of cigarettes..but the young man nipped them from his hand quickly.
7. slang.
a. transitive. To apprehend or arrest (a person). Now U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > arrest > [verb (transitive)]
at-holda1230
attacha1325
resta1325
takec1330
arrest1393
restay?a1400
tachec1400
seisinc1425
to take upa1438
stowc1450
seize1471
to lay (also set, clap, etc.) (a person) by the heels?1515
deprehend1532
apprehend1548
nipa1566
upsnatcha1566
finger1572
to make stay of1572
embarge1585
cap1590
reprehend1598
prehenda1605
embar1647
nap1665
nab1686
bone1699
roast1699
do1784
touch1785
pinch1789
to pull up1799
grab1800
nick1806
pull1811
hobble1819
nail1823
nipper1823
bag1824
lag1847
tap1859
snaffle1860
to put the collar on1865
copper1872
to take in1878
lumber1882
to pick up1887
to pull in1893
lift1923
drag1924
to knock off1926
to put the sleeve on1930
bust1940
pop1960
vamp1970
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Bij I go into the Citie some knaues to nip..with their goodes, to encrease the kynges Treasure.
1630 J. Taylor Wks. iii. 10/2 I haue heard some Serieants haue beene mild, And vs'd their Prisoner like a Christians child; Nip'd him in priuate.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour (Farmer) III. 147 They'd follow you about, and keep on nipping a fellow.
1887 J. J. Flinn Hist. Chicago Police 386 Palmer nipped him one day stealing diamonds at Giles Bros.
1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life i. 39 We were sent from the station expressly to nip you.
1930 J. Lait On Spot 34 I'll go out and nip her myself—in person.
1981 A. W. Futrell & C. B. Wordell Lang. Underworld 77/2 Nip, to arrest.
b. transitive. Originally: spec. †to steal (a purse) by cutting it from a person's clothing (obsolete). Later: gen. to steal, pilfer. Now chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > cutting or stealing purses > cut or steal purses [verb (intransitive)]
to cut a pursea1300
nip1567
purse1616
1567 T. Harman Caueat for Commen Cursetors (new ed.) Peddelars Frenche sig. Giiiv To nyp a bong, to cut a pursse.
1592 R. Greene Thirde Pt. Conny-catching sig. C2 This crew of mates..said there was no hope of nipping the boung because he held open his gowne so wide.
a1637 B. Jonson Masque of Gypsies 48 in tr. Horace Art of Poetry (1640) Therefore (till..he be able..to nip a Ian, or clye the Iarke) 'tis thought fit he march in the Infants Equipage.
1677 W. Nicolson Gloss. Cumbrian Dial. in Trans. Royal Soc. Lit. (1870) 9 316 Nip, to..pilfer.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Nip,..to Pinch or Sharp any thing. Nip a-bung, c[ant] to cut a Purse.
1712 J. Shirley Triumph of Wit (1724) 171 If the Cully he does meet, He nips all his Lour.
1740 Poor Robin sig. B3v The cut-purse in the throng, Hath a fair means to nip a bung.
1821 Life M. Martin 35 Here..it is possible we may nip something.
1894 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 10 Sept. A business man..from whom he nipped a $250 shirt stud.
1913 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 22 Feb. 13/2 I figured out that if I nipped a five-dollar bill I could slip it back the next day when the house paid me my wages.
1972 Dict. Contemp. & Colloq. Usage (Eng.-Lang. Inst. Amer.) 42 Nip, to quickly and slyly take something, as: to nip a candy bar from the store when no one is looking.
†c. intransitive. To steal, pick pockets. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > picking pockets > pick pockets [verb (intransitive)]
figc1555
nip1592
dive1699
file1699
pickpocket1822
wire1853
dip1857
1592 Def. Conny Catching (1859) 4 I had consorts that could verse, nippe, and foyst.
1651 T. Randolph et al. Hey for Honesty iii. i. 21/1 Ile nip from Ruffmans of the Harmanbeck.
d. transitive. Chiefly Australian. To borrow or cadge (something); to make a wheedling request of, cadge from (someone). Also intransitive: to beg for. Cf. nip n.3 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > borrowing > borrow [verb (transitive)]
apprompt1548
mutuate1548
prest1548
to take out1753
promote1918
nip1919
bot1921
rabbit1943
borrow-
1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 35 Nip, to cadge (or ‘Put in the Nips’).
1924 Aussie: Cheerful Mag. Nov. 78/1 ‘Just a deener, Dig,’ he whined. ‘I ain't nippin' fer anything big. On'y a bob, mate.’
1978 H. C. Baker I was Listening 7 No chance of nippin' the bricky for a smoke—he don't smoke.
†8. transitive. Nautical. Of the wind: to catch and delay (a ship). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > blow (a blast) (of the wind [verb (transitive)] > delay or impede a ship
nip1669
baffle1748
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > get into the current of the wind [verb (transitive)] > impede a ship (of the wind)
nip1669
baffle1748
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. ii. 18 Look well to the Westward, if you can see any Ships that have been nipt with the last Easterly Winds.
9.
a. intransitive. colloquial (chiefly British). To move rapidly or nimbly; to go quickly; to make a brief excursion. Usually with down, in, into, out, etc. Also (in extended use, esp. with in): to take rapid action.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > [verb (intransitive)] > speedily
rakeOE
rekec1275
raikc1390
richc1400
freck1513
to hie it1620
whidc1730
scoot1758
spank1807
kilt1816
nip1825
slip1864
breeze1907
bomb1966
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move swiftly and briskly
fisk1393
trotc1416
whippet1540
skip1587
skice1591
trig1599
brisk1727
nip1825
june1869
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Nip up,..to move quickly.
1863 Lanc. Fents 27 So he nipt up th' tree like a cat.
1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leics. 159 Pray nip out of the road as quickly as you can.
1908 H. G. Wells War in Air v. 155 She [sc. a ship] had..nipped in between the Susquehanna and the Kansas City.
1920 Blackwood's Mag. Jan. 111/2 Your friend..nips in and takes up the running, and you are out of the hunt.
1930 W. S. Maugham Breadwinner 115 If Uncle Alfred wants us to get out we'd better nip before Daddy comes back.
1947 People 22 June 7/5 Meantime, Club No. 2..nipped in, handed the ‘very famous footballer’ the thousand smackers.., and clinched the transfer.
1969 Listener 14 Aug. 205/2 Nipping out for a smoke during the odd bit of Schoenberg.
1998 C. Aherne et al. Royle Family Scripts: Series 1 (1999) Episode 1. 23 Hey our Antony, nip down to the offie and get us some ciggies.
b. intransitive. Cricket. Of a cricket ball: to come sharply off the pitch.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > bowl [verb (intransitive)] > motion of ball
to make haste?a1475
twist?1801
cut1816
shoot1816
curl1833
hang1838
work1838
break1847
spin1851
turn1851
bump1856
bite1867
pop1871
swerve1894
to kick up1895
nip1899
swing1900
google1907
move1938
seam1960
to play (hit, etc.) across the line1961
1899 Captain 1 516/1 Another..makes the ball nip off the pitch like a marble off a granite wall.
1903 P. F. Warner in H. G. Hutchinson Cricket xiv. 399 Matting on the bare grassless ground favours the batsman, though I am inclined to think that a really good bowler ought always to be able to make the ball ‘nip’ a bit.
1989 Times (Nexis) 27 June Pollard..batted 25 overs, beaten by a ball which nipped back.
2001 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 1 May 43 In the first hour, the ball moved around and nipped alarmingly.
c. transitive. Cricket. To make (a ball) move sharply off the pitch, often with a change of direction.
ΚΠ
1982 M. Brearley Phoenix from Ashes ii. 25/1 As soon as Lillee found his length he nipped one back from off to have me LBW.
1996 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 5 May 8 He still nipped the ball around off the seam more than anyone.
2001 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 28 July 2 Danny Law nipped the new ball around..and was rewarded with the prized wicket of Owais Shah.
10. U.S.
a. transitive. Baseball. To put (a runner) out.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > play baseball [verb (transitive)] > put out > a runner
peg1862
nip1868
to throw out1876
nail1888
to pick off1888
tag1907
1868 in E. J. Nichols Hist. Dict. Baseball Terminol. Nip.
1888 Press (N.Y.) 21 Apr. 3/1 Tom Deasley picked off two men at third and nipped two at second.
1914 R. Lardner in Sat. Evening Post 15 Aug. 9/1 Clarke..pegs down to second to nip him.
1980 R. Mayer 1937 Newark Bears vii. 81 The first [play] was a slow roller to Kelleher's left that he scooped up and rifled across the mound to nip the runner.
b. transitive. In a sporting contest: to defeat, esp. by a narrow margin.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > win, lose, or score [verb (transitive)] > win > defeat
overplayc1460
smother1676
lurch1678
outplay1702
thrash1789
defeat1830
spreadeagle1832
thresh1852
whitewash1867
blank1870
annihilate1886
nip1893
slam1907
plaster1919
skittle1919
rip1927
maul1928
demolish1938
massacre1940
trounce1942
hammer1948
murder1952
to shut out1952
zilch1957
zip1964
trip1974
1893 R. G. Hampton Major in Washington 67 I got nipped at poker agin yesterday evenin'.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §649/3 Defeat..nick, nip, outbeat, outwin.
1942 Sun (Baltimore) 29 Apr. 19/1 Miss Goshen, under Eddie DeCamillis, came along in the stretch to take the second by two lengths. Sobriquet got up to nip Spare the Rod for second honors.
1966 N.Y. Times (Internat. ed.) 22 Apr. 12/1 The Pirates nipped the Reds, 3–2.
1974 Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 19 Apr. 4B/2 Danny Ford banged out four hits and knocked in two runs as Augusta College nipped Erskine, 6–5, here Thursday.
1988 Basketball Scene Ann. 94/1 ‘Wild and wooly’ is the best description of the 1987–88 SWC title chase that saw SMU nip Arkansas and Baylor for the league title.
IV. Senses relating to the effect of pinching.
11. transitive. Of cold, frost, etc. (in Scottish formerly also of disease): to injure or affect painfully. Also occasionally intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > be cold [verb (intransitive)] > pierce or nip (of cold)
nip1548
strike1569
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > make cold [verb (transitive)] > nip or pierce (of cold)
piercec1387
nip1548
bite1552
sneap1598
nirl1808
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xlviii If..colde wether had not nipped them..they would have made their progress farther.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Dec. 133 The carefull cold hath nypt my rugged rynde.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xx. 87 The Eastwinde is hurtefull and nippes.
a1585 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart (Tullibardine) 319 in Poems (1910) 154 With paines and parlasie opprest, And nippit with þe nirrilis.
1604 T. Middleton Ant & Nightingale To Rdr. sig. A4v A Phisical Frost, that nips the wicked Bloud a litle.
1605 M. Drayton Poems sig. Gg6 Nipt with cold death.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 48 Men dangerously nipp'd by excessive cold.
1704 R. Steele Lying Lover i. 5 To see the dear things trip, trip along, and breath so short, nipt with the Season.
1706 ‘John Thomson's Man’ Short Surv. Difficulties Married Life 7 She'll make you look as if you were all nipped with the Nirles.
1829 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 4 One of the coldest nights that ever nipped a nose.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xii. 149 The wind blew keenly, nipping the features.
1900 J. London To Man on Trail in Son of Wolf 106 With..his smooth-shaven face nipped by the cold to a gleaming pink..he seemed..the Frost King.
1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train v. 281 An early fly nipped by the cold died noisily against a window-pane.
1991 T. Hayden Killing Frost (BNC) 197 The cold made him gasp; it nipped his cheeks.
12.
†a. transitive. To touch or concern (a person) closely; to vex, to distress. Also intransitive. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > be annoyed or vexed by [verb (transitive)] > annoy or vex
gremec893
dretchc900
awhenec1000
teenOE
fretc1290
annoyc1300
atrayc1320
encumberc1330
diseasec1340
grindc1350
distemperc1386
offenda1387
arra1400
avexa1400
derea1400
miscomforta1400
angerc1400
engrievec1400
vex1418
molesta1425
entrouble?1435
destroublea1450
poina1450
rubc1450
to wring (a person) on the mailsc1450
disprofit1483
agrea1492
trouble1515
grig1553
mis-set?1553
nip?1553
grate1555
gripe1559
spitec1563
fike?1572
gall1573
corsie1574
corrosive1581
touch1581
disaccommodate1586
macerate1588
perplex1590
thorn1592
exulcerate1593
plague1595
incommode1598
affret1600
brier1601
to gall or tread on (one's) kibes1603
discommodate1606
incommodate1611
to grate on or upon1631
disincommodate1635
shog1636
ulcerate1647
incommodiate1650
to put (a person) out of his (her, etc.) way1653
discommodiate1654
discommode1657
ruffle1659
regrate1661
disoblige1668
torment1718
pesta1729
chagrin1734
pingle1740
bothera1745
potter1747
wherrit1762
to tweak the nose of1784
to play up1803
tout1808
rasp1810
outrage1818
worrit1818
werrit1825
buggerlug1850
taigle1865
get1867
to give a person the pip1881
to get across ——1888
nark1888
eat1893
to twist the tail1895
dudgeon1906
to tweak the tail of1909
sore1929
to put up1930
wouldn't it rip you!1941
sheg1943
to dick around1944
cheese1946
to pee off1946
to honk off1970
to fuck off1973
to tweak (a person's or thing's) tail1977
to tweak (a person's or thing's) nose1983
to wind up1984
to dick about1996
to-teen-
?1553 J. Bradford tr. P. Melanchthon Godlye Treat. Prayer To Rdr. sig. Aijv These perilouse dayes of necessitie so nippe vs, and prouoke vs to praye.
1574 A. Golding tr. A. Marlorat Catholike Expos. Reuelation 14 His hart is nipped with heauinesse.
1622 S. Rowlands Good Newes & Bad Newes 36 My wooing ouerthrowne, my horse play marr'd, As I am Gentleman, this nips me hard.
1633 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. (ed. 6) lxxviii. sig. N11v Not a word can bee spoke, but nips him somewhere.
1897 B. Harraden Hilda Strafford 199 It was just that which nipped me. I had done a wrong to her, and she had done a wrong to me.
b. intransitive. Chiefly Scottish and Irish English (northern). To ache, smart. Also: (of a shoe, etc.) to be painfully tight, to pinch.
ΚΠ
1567 T. Drant tr. Horace Pistles in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. E j The lesser shoe doth hurt thy foote for pardie it will nip.
1737 A. Ramsay Coll. Scots Prov. 82 Ye're new risen and your young Heart's nipping.
1806 A. Douglas Poems 26 O! but my heart nips for the pain, While thro' the green she wanders.
1858 Ulster Jrnl. Archæol. 6 40 Go 'long, bring some clods from the turf stack, for my toes an' my fingers is nippin.
1865 W. H. L. Tester Poems 9 Words that nip like plasters.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down 73 Ma toes is just nippin'.
1968 G. M. Williams From Scenes like These vi. 144 Dunky bent down and touched the dried blood on his knee, thinking that it would nip later on.
1995 A. Warner Morvern Callar (1996) 27 My toes were nipping before I'd turned the point by the sea away from the bungalow.
13.
a. transitive. Originally: to check or destroy the growth of (a plant), as by the physical removal of a bud or the like, or through the action of cold or frost. Later: to arrest or prevent the growth or development of (anything).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)] > destroy the growth of plants, etc.
slayc1325
bruise?1523
overgrow?1523
nip1575
starve1578
depasturea1599
bedasha1616
victimize1849
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)] > check (in) a course of action
stanchc1315
arrestc1374
checka1400
stem?c1450
stay1525
to take up1530
rebate1532
suspend1565
nip1575
countercheck1590
to nip in the bud1590
to clip the wings ofa1593
to nip in (also by, on) the head (also neck, pate)1594
trasha1616
to scotch the wheels of1648
spike1687
spoke1854
to pull up1861
1575 T. Churchyard 1st Pt. Chippes f. 31 Some bowes you see do flourish fayre..And some by frost and cold ayre nipt, And so are blasted streight.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. 144 It is much better to nip misorder in the verie ground.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 794 If frostes..Nip not the gaudie blossomes of your Loue. View more context for this quotation
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 14 Roots being so weakly put, are soone nipt with drought or frost.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1577 The first-born bloom of spring Nipt with the lagging rear of winters frost. View more context for this quotation
a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) VI. 181 God's Prescription is..that we nip Sin, when it begins to bud in the Thoughts.
1718 N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia 128 To parch the fading Herb and nip the springing Green.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1778 II. 234 [Edwards:] I am curious to see if this frost has not nipped my fruit trees.
1796 S. T. Coleridge On Observing Blossom in Watchman 11 Apr. 164 Some sweet girl of too, too rapid growth Nipp'd by Consumption.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. xxx. 168 Nipp'd by misfortune's cruel frost, The buds of fair affection lost!
1866–7 J. Thomson Naked Goddess 239 Storms in Spring nipped bud and sprout.
1880 R. Browning Dramatic Idyls ii. 78 Nip these foolish fronds Of hope a-sprout.
a1902 F. Norris Pit (1903) vi. 193 The wheat had been battered by incessant gales, had been nipped and harried by frost; everywhere the young half-grown grain seemed to be perishing.
1987 M. Wesley Not that Sort of Girl (1988) xxvi. 140 Ned looked across the garden where the first frost had yet to nip the dahlias.
1993 Daily Tel. 17 Nov. 8/7 We can..start nipping this whole problem of crime which is ruining all our lives.
†b. transitive. To stop, put an end to, cut short. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease from (an action or operation) [verb (transitive)] > cause to cease or put a stop to
astintc700
stathea1200
atstuntc1220
to put an end toa1300
to set end ofa1300
batec1300
stanch1338
stinta1350
to put awayc1350
arrestc1374
finisha1375
terminec1390
achievea1393
cease1393
removec1405
terminate?a1425
stop1426
surceasec1435
resta1450
discontinue1474
adetermine1483
blina1500
stay1525
abrogatea1529
suppressa1538
to set in or at stay1538
to make stay of1572
depart1579
check1581
intercept1581
to give a stop toa1586
dirempt1587
date1589
period1595
astayc1600
nip1600
to break off1607
snape1631
sist1635
to make (a) stop of1638
supersede1643
assopiatea1649
periodizea1657
unbusya1657
to put a stop to1679
to give the holla to1681
to run down1697
cessate1701
end1737
to choke off1818
stopper1821
punctuate1825
to put a stopper on1828
to take off ——1845
still1850
to put the lid on1873
on the fritz1900
to close down1903
to put the fritz on something1910
to put the bee on1918
switch1921
to blow the whistle on1934
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > bring to ruin or put an end to > cut short or check
interrupt1570
nip1600
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. v. 200 More Tribes nipped that one law for going forward, than gave their voices to approove it.
1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 92v Wherewith he nipt the bloody instigations of those Parasits.
1630 R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Princesse Elizabeth iii. 64 The Queene..nipped the man at vnawares in his swelling pride, by one short Letter.

Phrases

†P1. to nip in (also by, on) the head (also neck, pate).
a. To overpower or overcome (a person) with a sudden grip or pinch on the specified part of the body. Also (in extended use): to affect as if overpowered in this way; to reduce to a state of helplessness. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or overwhelm > completely or overthrow
shrenchc897
allayOE
fellOE
quellOE
to bring to the groundc1175
forlesec1200
to lay downa1225
acastc1225
accumberc1275
cumber1303
confoundc1330
overthrowc1375
cumrayc1425
overquell?c1450
overwhelvec1450
to nip in (also by, on) the head (also neck, pate)?a1500
prostrate1531
quash1556
couch1577
unhorse1577
prosternate1593
overbeata1616
unchariot1715
floor1828
quench1841
to knock over1853
fling1889
to throw down1890
steamroller1912
wipe1972
zonk1973
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Cadger l. 2223 in Poems (1981) 84 Deith cummis behind and nippis thame be the nek.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 70v This question so earnestly asked.., nipped him in the head.
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. D2 Menaphon halfe nipte in the pate with this replie..made this aunswere.
1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. 300 This nipped him in the head, and strooke cold to his heart.
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all iv. 51 Lord, Sir, how you stand! as you were nip'd i' th' head.
b. To give a decisive or final check to (something). Obsolete.Sometimes with admixture of sense 'to arrest or prevent the growth or development of' (see sense 13a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)] > check (in) a course of action
stanchc1315
arrestc1374
checka1400
stem?c1450
stay1525
to take up1530
rebate1532
suspend1565
nip1575
countercheck1590
to nip in the bud1590
to clip the wings ofa1593
to nip in (also by, on) the head (also neck, pate)1594
trasha1616
to scotch the wheels of1648
spike1687
spoke1854
to pull up1861
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. To Rdr. sig. b3 This monstrous brood shalbe nipped in the head so soone as euer it shall dare to shew it selfe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 89 This outward sainted Deputie, Whose setled visage..Nips youth i'th head, and follies doth emmew.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 103 Ere ever Christ be truely closed with, sinne must be nipt in the necke.
1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 40 It should be all our wisdoms and care, to nip the head of all such rumors as shall tend to trouble our people. View more context for this quotation]
P2. to nip in the bud: to suppress, check, or destroy, esp. at an early stage. Formerly also †to nip in the bloom, etc. (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)] > check (in) a course of action
stanchc1315
arrestc1374
checka1400
stem?c1450
stay1525
to take up1530
rebate1532
suspend1565
nip1575
countercheck1590
to nip in the bud1590
to clip the wings ofa1593
to nip in (also by, on) the head (also neck, pate)1594
trasha1616
to scotch the wheels of1648
spike1687
spoke1854
to pull up1861
1590 T. Lodge Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie f. 24 Nature hath prodigally inricht thee with her fauours..and now..to haue all these good partes nipped in the blade, and blemisht by the inconstancie of Fortune.
1595 H. Chettle Piers Plainnes Prentiship sig. E3v Extinguish these fond loues with minds labour, and nip thy affections in the bloome, that they may neuer bee of power to budde.
1607 F. Beaumont Woman Hater iii. i. sig. D4v Yet I can frowne and nip a passion Euen in the bud.
1658 A. Cokayne Small Poems 120 Dost thou approach to censure our delights, And nip them in the bud?
1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice 307 Had not the Senat..nipt their Animosity in the Bud.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 526. ¶2 Holding it extremely requisite that you should nip him in the Bud.
1746 J. Hervey Medit. among Tombs 24 He has nipped Infancy in its Bud.
1772 Q. F. Norton Let. 3 Nov. in John Norton & Sons (1968) 278 The Italian Fashions and Vices creep in upon us apace, which if not nipt in the Bud will take too deep a Root.
1844 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1866) III. 321 Insurrections have broken out.., and Government are taking strong measures to nip them in the bud.
1861 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 565 This and many other noble projects were nipped in the bud by the death of Charles III.
1956 A. Wilson Anglo-Saxon Attitudes i. ii. 44 He sat down with the air of having nipped some potentially insidious nonsense in the bud.
1998 K. Desai Hullabaloo in Guava Orchard (1999) ix. 82 This was a very dangerous thing and should be nipped in the bud immediately, he felt.
P3. Originally U.S. to nip at the heels of (also to nip at a person or animal's heels).
a. Of a dog: to snap at the legs or heels of (a person or animal), especially in order to drive or chase him, her, or it in a particular direction.
ΚΠ
1873 Delphi (Indiana) Jrnl. 25 June He arrives..with..coat-tails horizontal and the yellow dog nipping at his heels.
1902 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Evening Gaz. 20 Jan. 7/1 The dog was..taken into the field..to drive up the cows. The dog nipped at the heels of the cattle.
1955 Boys' Life Nov. 82/2 Bursting into a frenzy of barking, he nipped at the creature's heels.
1988 J. Hunter & A. Keteyian Catfish 85 Running and yapping, he nipped at our heels.
2009 R. C. Hamilton Seventy-seven Year Good Deed xv. 86 They'd nip at the heels of the cows and encourage them to ‘move along smartly now’.
b. figurative and in figurative contexts.
(a) To harry, harass, or chivvy; to hound. Also: to follow closely behind, or be close to.
ΚΠ
1882 Sunday Herald (Syracuse, N.Y.) 23 July 3/4 Was not winter nipping at their heels?
1932 Macleay Chron. (Kempsey, New S. Wales) 20 July 3/2 With a keen wind from the river nipping at his heels, the traveller hurries along the historic Rue Vieille du Temple.
1991 Sport Mar. 42/1 Junior was..nipping at the heels of any player who strayed in his direction.
2012 M. C. Hirshberg For Better or for Work 15 Gary had enough to worry about with creditors nipping at his heels.
(b) In a competitive situation: to follow closely behind (a leader or pioneer); to challenge or threaten (a person or group) with eagerness and drive.
ΚΠ
1924 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 26 Feb. 15/5 The Milwaukee star had nipped continually at the heels of his opponent.., and stood an excellent chance of..winning.
1960 Marshall (Mich.) Evening Chron. 11 June The strongman..held a one stroke lead at the 36-hole point... But a gang of potential champions nipped at his heels.
1984 Orange Coast (Orange County, Calif.) Jan. 133/1 Thoughts of success have encouraged smaller companies..to nip at the heels of larger groups.
2001 I. Halperin Bad & Beautiful (2003) xxii. 150 She started having difficulty keeping up with younger models who nipped at her heels for the higher paid jobs.

Compounds

C1.
† nip-bud n. Obsolete rare a small plant pest (not identified).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > division Vermes > [noun] > member of (worm) > small
cranet1577
wormling1605
wormlet1611
vermicle1657
nip-bud1658
vermicular?1691
vermiculus1694
vermicule1713
1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons French Gardiner 101 There is also another kind of small worme, which they call the Nip-bud which breeds at the very poynt of young shoots, and kills all their tops.
nipfarthing n. now rare a mean or miserly person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [noun] > niggard or mean person
nithinga1225
chinch?a1300
nigc1300
chincher1333
shut-purse1340
niggardc1384
haynec1386
nigona1400
pinchera1425
pinchpenny?c1425
pynepenya1450
pelt1511
chincherda1529
churl1535
pinchbeck1538
carl?1542
penny-father1549
nipfarthing1566
nipper?1573
holdfast1576
pinchpence1577
pinch fistc1580
pinchfart1592
shit-sticks1598
clunchfist1606
puckfist1606
sharp-nose1611
spare-good1611
crib1622
hog grubber?1626
dry-fist1633
clusterfist1652
niggardling1654
frummer1659
scrat1699
sting-hum1699
nipcheese1785
pincha1825
screw1825
wire-drawer1828
close-fist1861
penny-pincher1875
nip-skin1876
parer1887
pinch-plum1892
cheapskate1899
meanie1902
tightwad1906
stinge1914
penny-peeler1925
mean1938
stiff1967
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall i. 417 I woulde the not a nipfarthinge Nor yet a niggarde haue.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Nip-raisin,..Nip-farthing, a stingy retailer whose nearness in not overweighing his goods to his customers has gained him those designations.
1981 C. McCullough Indecent Obsession 79 As an escort he was a notorious nipfarthing—the girls soon learned that if Luce took them out, they paid.
† nipshred n. Obsolete rare a tailor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > [noun] > tailor
seamsterc995
tailor1297
parnterc1400
parmenterc1450
pricklouse?a1513
Tom Tailor1575
stitcher1589
scissor man1593
cutter1599
snip1600
snipper1611
shred1616
needleman1621
fashioner1631
snip-snappera1632
sartor1656
nipshred1661
stult1675
cabbage1694
linen-armourer1699
stitch1699
snip-cabbage1708
tire-man1709
knight of the needlea1777
stay-tape1785
schneider1796
needle-jerker1801
skip-louse1807
darzi1809
cross-legs1823
tog-maker1901
knight of the shears-
1661 K. W. Confused Characters 71 Though her nimble shankt nipshred never medles with the garment.
† nip-skin n. Obsolete rare = nipfarthing n.
ΚΠ
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Nip-skin, a niggard, who infringes on another's dues, or ‘cuts beyond the edge of his own cloth’.
† nipskin v. Obsolete rare transitive to pinch severely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > affect with type of pain [verb (transitive)] > pinch
twitchc1410
strain1426
wringa1529
pinch1548
bepinch1612
nipskin1620
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > press or squeeze [verb (transitive)] > nip or pinch
twingec1000
pinchc1230
pranglec1300
nip1381
nipe1440
hinch1590
nipskin1620
pincer1864
tweezer1911
1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 125 Finally render like for like, that may nipskin her.
C2. Used with the names of various items of food or merchandise to form compounds denoting a mean or miserly person (sometimes spec. a tradesman considered likely to give short measure). Now English regional (northern).See also nipfarthing n., nip-skin n. at Compounds 1, and nipcheese n.
ΚΠ
a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 206 Nyse nagus nipcaik with thy schulderis narrow.
1595 T. Churchyard Musicall Consort: Churchyards Charitie 17 Nip-crust the carle, hath crept so neere the crums that nothing scapes, from hungry hucksters thumbs.
1650 H. More Observ. in Enthusiasmus Triumphatus (1656) 81 A Nip-crust or Niggard of your precious speculations.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) Nip-prune.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Nip-raisin,..a stingy retailer whose nearness in not overweighing his goods to his customers has gained him those designations.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Nip-screed, or Nip-skin, a niggard, who infringes on another's dues, or ‘cuts beyond the edge of his own cloth’.
1891 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 3 Jan. He's a grand gleid yond; a bonny nipcurn.
1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry vi. 60 Miserly habits are common, judging by the number of nip-cheeses, nip-farthings, nip-raisins, scrimps and skinflints.
1985 K. Howarth Sounds Gradely Nip-raisin, a miser. Burnley.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

nipv.2

Brit. /nɪp/, U.S. /nɪp/
Inflections: Present participle nipping; past tense and past participle nipped;
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: nip n.4
Etymology: < nip n.4The phonetic and semantic similarity with the Germanic verbs listed at nip v.1 is apparently coincidental.
Now chiefly North American.
1. intransitive. To take nips of alcoholic drink. Also with at.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor
to wet (one's) whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beardc1386
bibc1400
to kiss the cupa1420
drawa1500
refresh1644
mug1653
bub1654
jug1681
whiffle1693
dram1740
wet1783
to suck (also sup) the monkey1785
stimulate1800
lush1811
taste1823
liquor1839
oil1841
paint1853
irrigate1856
nip1858
smile1858
peg1874
gargle1889
shicker1906
stop1924
bevvy1934
1858 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 218 The gentlemen who had ‘nipped’ before starting amused themselves by criticising the vehicled multitude.
1887 B. St. J. Bellairs Gossips with Girls ii. 64 A man who drinks to excess or habitually nips.
1896 G. M. Stisted True Life R. F. Burton xi. 267 He could take his bottle after dinner with any man, but nip he could not.
1943 P. Sturges Hail Conquering Hero in Five Screenplays (1986) 795 Libby. (Pointing to the bottle) Woodrow, you've been nipping.
1965 C. Bukowski Let. 23 Feb. in Screams from Balcony (1998) 131 I can come crashing in from the racetrack where maybe I have nipped away at a half pint or pint of scotch during the action.
1991 D. Richler Kicking Tomorrow viii. 124 They'd been nipping from a bottle of white alcohol.
†2. transitive. To drink in nips. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor
pulla1450
to crush a cup of wine1592
to take one's rousea1593
crack1600
whiff1609
bezzle1617
bub1654
tift1722
bibulate1767
lush1838
do1853
lower1895
nip1897
sink1899
1897 W. H. Thornton Reminisc. Clergyman xi. 323 Some of our young men nip wine or spirits all day long.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1400n.2?a1500n.31549n.41736n.5adj.1941n.61970v.11381v.21858
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