- Nipping
- Nip Nip, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Nipped}, less properly {Nipt};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Nipping}.] [OE. nipen; cf. D. niipen to
pinch, also knippen to nip, clip, pinch, snap, knijpen to
pinch, LG. knipen, G. kneipen, kneifen, to pinch, cut off,
nip, Lith. knebti.]
1. To catch and inclose or compress tightly between two
surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed;
to pinch; to close in upon.
[1913 Webster]
May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip. [1913 Webster]
The small shoots . . . must be nipped off. --Mortimer. [1913 Webster]
3. Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy. [1913 Webster]
4. To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt. [1913 Webster]
And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
{To nip in the bud}, to cut off at the very commencement of growth; to kill in the incipient stage. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
