Nip Definition

nĭp

nipped, nipping, nips

verb

nipped, nipping, nips

To give a nip or nips.

Webster's New World

To catch or squeeze between two surfaces, points, or edges; pinch or bite.

Webster's New World

To sever (shoots, buds, etc.) by pinching or clipping.

Webster's New World

To have a painful or injurious effect on because of cold.

Frost nipped the plants.

Webster's New World

To check the growth or development of.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

nips

The act or an instance of seizing or pinching.

American Heritage

The act of nipping; pinch; bite.

Webster's New World

A piece nipped off; small bit.

Webster's New World

A stinging quality, as in cold or frosty air.

Webster's New World

Stinging cold; frost.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

idiom

nip and tuck

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Nip

Singular:

nip

Plural:

Probably from a form of Middle Dutch nipen. Cognate with Danish nive (“pinch"); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip"), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, to poke"); Lithuanian knebti.

From Wiktionary
Probably short for nipperkin of Dutch or Low German origin

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Middle English nippen perhaps from Middle Dutch nipen

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Middle English nippen (“a small sip").

From Wiktionary
From Nippon (Japanese 日本).

From Wiktionary
Diminutive of nipple.

From Wiktionary