Nip
Nip , noun
[LG. & Dutch nippen to sip; akin to Danish nippe, German nippen.]
A sip or small draught; esp., a draught of intoxicating liquor; a dram.
Nip , transitive verb
[Old English nipen; compare Dutch niipen to pinch, also knippen to nip, clip, pinch, snap, knijpen to pinch, LG. knipen, German kneipen, kneifen, to pinch, cut off, nip, Lithuanian 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.
May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell,
Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat,
If I be such a traitress.
2.
To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
The small shoots... must be nipped off.
3.
Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
4.
To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt.
And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.
Collocations (1)
To nip in the bud , to cut off at the very commencement of growth; to kill in the incipient stage.
Nip , noun
1.
A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, in the northern seas, the nip of masses of ice.
2.
A pinch with the nails or teeth.
3.
A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
4.
A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
5.
A biting sarcasm; a taunt. — Latimer
6.
(Nautical) A short turn in a rope.
Collocations (1)
Nip and tuck , a phrase signifying equality in a contest; as, it was nip and tuck right to the last minute of play. [Low, United States]