nip
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), from Middle Low German knîpen, from Old Saxon *knīpan, from Proto-West Germanic *knīpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną (“to pinch”).
Related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.
Alternative forms
[edit]Verb
[edit]nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)
- To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.
- 1859, Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King, Merlin and Vivien:
- May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress.
- To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
- 1716, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry[1]:
- The small shoots ... must be nipt off.
- To benumb [e.g., cheeks, fingers, nose] by severe cold.
- To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
- To annoy, as by nipping.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:
- And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.
- To taunt.
- (Scotland, Northern England) To squeeze or pinch.
- (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To steal; especially to cut a purse.
- 1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton[2], volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:
- Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.
- 1712, J. Shirley, “The Black Procession”, in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris[3], verse 4, published 1896, page 38:
- The twelfth is a beau-trap, if a cull he does meet, / He nips all his cole, and turns him into the street.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:steal
- (obsolete) To affect [one] painfully; to cause physical pain.'
- 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, XII [Uniform ed., p. 136]:
- He had never expected to fling the soldier, or to be flung by Flea. “One nips or is nipped,” he thought, “and never knows beforehand. …"
- 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, XII [Uniform ed., p. 136]:
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Noun
[edit]nip (plural nips)
- A playful bite.
- The puppy gave his owner’s finger a nip.
- A pinch with the nails or teeth.
- Briskly cold weather.
- There is a nip in the air. It is nippy outside.
- 1915, W.S. Maugham, Of Human Bondage, chapter 118:
- The day had only just broken, and there was a nip in the air; but the sky was cloudless, and the sun was shining yellow.
- A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching
- the nip of masses of ice
- A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
- (mining) A more or less gradual thinning out of a stratum.
- A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
- A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
- (nautical) A short turn in a rope.
- (papermaking) The place of intersection where one roll touches another
- (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A pickpocket.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pickpocket
- 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 27:
- A novice nip, newly arrived in London, went one afternoon to the Red Bull in Bishopsgate, an inn converted to a playhouse.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 2
[edit]Short for nipperkin, ultimately from Middle Low German nippen or Middle Dutch nipen ("to sip; nip"; > Dutch nippen). Compare also German nippen (“to sip; taste”).
Noun
[edit]nip (plural nips)
- A small amount of food or drink, (particularly) a small amount of liquor.
- Synonyms: (of food) nibble, (specifically of alcohol) a little of the creature; see also Thesaurus:drink
- I’ll just take a nip of that cake.
- He had a nip of whiskey.
Synonyms
[edit]- (small amount of liquor): dram, snifter, slug, tot; see also Thesaurus:drink
Translations
[edit]Etymology 3
[edit]Noun
[edit]nip (plural nips)
- (slang, vulgar) A nipple, usually of a woman.
- Did you manage to sneak a peek at her nips, bro?
- 2023 August 28, Vanessa Friedman, quoting Eddye, Madison, Wis., “Are There Any Rules About Going Braless?”, in The New York Times[4], →ISSN:
- I find bras totally uncomfortable, hot and itchy, for both work and leisure. But looking around, I seem to be in the minority. What are the rules for going braless? Is it OK to show my nips, or is it rude?
Derived terms
[edit]Verb
[edit]nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)
Etymology 4
[edit](This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Verb
[edit]nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)
- (informal) To make a quick, short journey or errand, usually a round trip.
- Why don’t you nip down to the grocer’s for some milk?
- 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 58:
- My trip ends at Wrexham General. While the '150' trundles the final half-mile down the single line to Wrexham Central, I nip over the footbridge to explore the main part of the station.
Etymology 5
[edit]Canada 1931.
Noun
[edit]nip (plural nips)
References
[edit]- “nip” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Roberts, David (2001 February 24) “Rock Royalty Buys Winnipeg ‘Crown Jewel’”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, page A3.
Anagrams
[edit]Albanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Albanian *nepō, from Proto-Indo-European *népōts (“grandson, nephew”). Cognate to Latin nepos (“grandson”) and Sanskrit नपात् (nápat-, “grandson”). Reinforcement/influence or a borrowing from Latin is also possible.[1]
Noun
[edit]nip m (plural nipër, definite nipi, definite plural nipërt)
Derived terms
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Topalli, K. (2017) “nip”, in Fjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe, Durrës, Albania: Jozef, page 1064
Dutch
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Verb
[edit]nip
- inflection of nippen:
Anagrams
[edit]Old Irish
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]nip
- Alternative spelling of níp
Mutation
[edit]Old Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
nip also nnip after a proclitic ending in a vowel |
nip pronounced with /n(ʲ)-/ |
unchanged |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]nip n (uncountable)
- (Transylvania) people (as a large group)
Declension
[edit]References
[edit]- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪp
- Rhymes:English/ɪp/1 syllable
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Low German
- English terms derived from Dutch
- English terms derived from Middle Low German
- English terms derived from Old Saxon
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English terms with quotations
- Scottish English
- Northern England English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- British English
- English Thieves' Cant
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Mining
- en:Nautical
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English clippings
- English slang
- English vulgarities
- English informal terms
- Manitoba English
- Northwestern Ontario English
- Albanian terms inherited from Proto-Albanian
- Albanian terms derived from Proto-Albanian
- Albanian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Albanian terms derived from Latin
- Albanian lemmas
- Albanian nouns
- Albanian masculine nouns
- sq:Male family members
- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch verb forms
- Old Irish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old Irish non-lemma forms
- Old Irish verb forms
- Romanian terms borrowed from Hungarian
- Romanian terms derived from Hungarian
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian uncountable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Transylvanian Romanian