▪ I. nip, n.1
Also 6 nyp(pe, nipp, 6–7 nippe.
[f. nip v.1]
I. 1. a. The act of compressing sharply between two surfaces, edges, or points; a pinch; a sharp bite.
| 1551 Cranmer Answ. Gardiner (1580) 85 In the last booke you geue Christ such a nippe, that of that whole satisfaction, you pinch halfe away from him. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 206 What bobbed lips, what ierks, what nips! 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 35 Snub his top with a nip betwixt your finger and your thumb. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 181 The dreadfulness of a grim nip, and a dead-doing gripe. 1790 Morison Poems 190 (E.D.D.), Ye'll find it smarter than an adder's nip. 1817 Keats ‘I stood tiptoe’ 144 What amorous and fondling nips They gave each other's cheeks. 1857 W. Brookes in Pat. Abridgm., Spinning (1866) 1249 When by no nip thereof taking place the fibre will remain stationary. 1889 Baden-Powell Pig-sticking 133 A judiciously applied nip of his sharp little jaws. |
| fig. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 134 This fraudulent gain..is called in Birmingham, ‘a nip—biting the yokels’. |
(b) In fig. phr. to put in the nips, Austral. and N.Z. colloq. to cadge, to ask for a loan. Cf. nip v.1 2 c.
| 1919 [see nip v.1 2 c]. 1937 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. 1963 B. Pearson Coal Flat x. 190 ‘The woman's getting too serious,’ he thought; ‘she's putting the nips in.’ 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. |
b. Naut. Severe pressure exerted by ice on the sides of a vessel; the crushing effect of this.
| 1850 Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. xiv. (1859) 203 These ships.., which are perpetually subject to heavy blows, and hard nips. 1878 A. H. Markham Gt. Frozen Sea xxvi. 389 On the following morning we sustained a slight ‘nip’, caused by the ice setting rapidly in toward us. 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. v, That terrible ‘nip’ of '71, when twelve hundred men were made homeless on the ice. |
c. Naut. The grip of a rope at a point where it is twisted round something; the part of a rope held fast in this way. to freshen the nip: see freshen v. 3.
| 1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 116 Nip, a short turn in a rope. 1859 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. lxviii. II. 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 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. No. 2659 The nip of the blocks exists only when they sustain the weight of the boat, and ceases when it reaches the water. |
d. Coal-mining. (See quots.)
| 1839 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. 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 37 Nip.—The effect produced upon coal pillars by creep; a crush or squeeze. Also, an approach of the roof and thill of a seam of coal towards each other. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 26 The thinning by a gradual depression of the roof till sometimes the entire coal is gone, but for a certain width only, is a kind of fault (nip or want). |
2. A sharp saying, remark, or comment; a slight rebuke, reproof, or sarcasm. Now somewhat rare (very common c 1550–1620).
| 1549 Chaloner Erasm. on Folly R iv b, Herto serve the manyfolde nippes and taunts wherwith Christ in divers places..bayteth Pharisees, Scribes and Doctours of Law. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xxvii. (Arb.) 68 A prety fashioned poeme..in which euery mery conceited man might..giue a prettie nip, or shew a sharp conceit in few verses. 1604 Hieron Wks. I. 476 It was truly said of him,..that, amongst men, nothing can scape without a nippe. 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke Wks. (Grosart) IV. 25 Many a dry bob, close gird, and privy nip has he given him. 1738 tr. Guazzo's Art Conversation 56 The next kind of ill Tongues..chop upon you with short nips. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. 13 Many a shrewd nip has he in old days given to the Philistines, this editor. |
3. a. A severe check to vegetation caused by cold; the effect of a sharp cold upon plants or animals; the quality in wind or weather which produces this.
| 1614 D. Dyke Mystery Selfe-Deceiuing 87 The flattering of the Sunne raies often drawes forth the blossomes very earely; but afterward come colde nippes. 1631 Milton Ep. Marchioness Winchester 36 So have I seen som tender slip Sav'd with care from Winters nip. 1684 Stepney To Earl of Carlisle, So hasty fruits and too ambitious flow'rs,..find a nip untimely as their birth. 1873 Mrs. Whitney Other Girls iii, Dismal mornings of waterproofs..and blue nips and shivers. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella II. 283 The nip of the east wind was not yet out of the air. |
b. Sc. The quality of being pungent or stinging; a hot or pungent flavour.
| 1825 Jamieson s.v., Bread, and especially cheese, is said to have a nip, when it tastes sharp or pungent. 1889 Barrie Window in Thrums v, Lads, humour's what gies the nip to speakin'. 1894 A. S. Robertson Provost o' Glendookie 62, I dinna like whiskey wi' a nip. |
4. Cricket † a. A slight touch or stroke given to the ball by the batsman; a tip. Obs.
| 17.. Laws of Cricket in Grace Cricket (1891) 15 Each Umpire is ye Sole Judge of all Nips and Catches. 1755 Game at Cricket 9 A Stroke, or Nip over or under his Bat. |
b. The quality in bowling which causes the ball to rise sharply from the pitch.
| 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. |
5. Naut. (See quot.) rare—1.
| 1803 Man in Moon (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. |
6. nip and tuck (chiefly U.S.), neck and neck, a close thing. Also attrib. nip and tuck folder: see quot. 1964.
| 1832 J. K. Paulding Westward Ho! I. 172 There we were at rip and tuck [sic], up one tree and down another. 1847 W. T. Porter Quarter Race in Kentucky 16 (Th.), It will be like the old bitch and the rabbit, nick and tack every jump. Ibid. 123 (Th.), Then we'd have it again, nip and chuck. 1857 Knickerbocker L. 498 (Th.), [I got the trout off the fire] by the head, and the dog got him by the tail, and it was nip and tuck, pull Dick, pull devil. a 1859 in Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v., It was nip and tuck between us. 1884 Harper's Mag. Aug. 369/1 It was nip and tuck, neither animals gaining nor losing. 1890 in Big Game N. Amer. 92 It was a nip-and-tuck race. 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 87/1 Nip and tuck (Cornwall), a close contest. An old term in wrestling. 1906 J. London Let. 1 Dec. (1966) 226 This means..loss of money in the first months of the voyage, during which time things will be just nip and tuck with me. 1948 Economist 8 May 764/2 It is nip and tuck whether such a last great achievement of the bipartisan foreign policy can be ratified before..the Presidential race. 1964 Gloss. Letterpress Rotary Print. Terms (B.S.I.) 25 Nip and tuck folder, a type of folder in which the fold at right angles to the run of the web is formed by a blade thrusting the web between folding jaws. 1968 Economist 9 Nov. 28/3 The Vice President said that there were still several important states nip-and-tuck. 1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 5 Mar. 6-A/1 It was nip and tuck the rest of the way with two straight Cunningham baskets to open the fourth quarter knotting the count, 40–40, with 7:28 left to play. |
II. 7. Applied to persons. † a. A cutpurse or pickpocket. Obs.
| 1591 Greene Disc. Coosnage To Rdr., The Nip, which the common people call a Cut-purse. 1592 ― Groat's W. Wit D iv b, He learned the legerdemaines of nips, foysts, conicatchers, crosbyters. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. iii. 8/2 He..by sleight of hand Can play the Foist, the Nip, the Stale. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Nip, a Cheat. |
b. dial. and slang. (See quots.)
| 1787 W. Marshall E. Norf. (1795) II. Gloss., Nip, a near, split-farthing house-wife. 1823 De Quincey King of Hayti Wks. 1859 XII. 60 note, 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. 1853 Cooper Sussex Gloss. (ed. 2), Nip, one who is a close and sharp bargain maker, just honest and no more. |
8. † a. (See quot.) Obs. rare— 0.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Nipps, the shears with which Money was won't to be Clipt. |
b. In wool- or silk-combing apparatus, a piece of mechanism which catches and carries forward the material. Also attrib. and Comb.
| 1884 W. S. B. M{supc}Laren Spinning (ed. 2) 109 The Noble combs are supplanting the nips. Ibid. 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. Ibid., These laps..are taken to the circular nip combing machine. |
c. The narrow gap or area of contact between two rollers; the rollers themselves.
| 1884 W. S. B. Maclaren Spinning 250 Nip of rollers, the point where a pair of rollers touch each other, and where, consequently, they hold or nip the wool. Ibid. iii. 35 The lowest rollers..have their nip below the level of the suds. 1946 A. J. Hall Stand. 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. 1972 Materials & Technol. V. 515 The opening between the two rolls—the nip—is adjusted in such a way that when pieces of rubber are fed into the nip they are gripped and squeezed through the opening. |
III. 9. A small portion, such as may be pinched off something; a fragment, little bit.
| 1606 Charteris tr. Rollock's Comm. 2 Thess. 140 (Jam.), If thou hast not laboured,..looke that thou put not a nip in thy mouth. 1730 Ramsay Fables, Fox & Rat 42 [He] chews the warrant a' in little nips. 1795 Robin Hood & Beggar xix. in Child Ballads III. 160/2 Think not..that I fear thee any whit For thy curn nips of sticks. 1828 Moir Mansie Wauch xxiii, Water wi' twa or three nips o' braxy floating about in't. 1865 Masson Rec. Brit. Philos. iv. 292 The minutest..animalcule has its little nip of a cosmos. 1880 Meredith Tragic Comm. vii. (1892) 104, I will not fight him.., as I do not want to take his nip of life. |
10. Geol. 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.
| 1897 Geogr. Jrnl. IX. 542 Where the aggradation begins at the shoreline at the foot of the earlier formed ‘nip’. 1919 D. W. Johnson Shore Processes & Shoreline Development v. 259 If the lagoon waves are too feeble, the nip may be entirely lacking. 1939 A. K. Lobeck Geomorphology x. 347 The smaller waves advance landward and cut low cliffs in the weak material of which the land is usually composed. Thus a nip is produced. 1942 C. A. Cotton Geomorphology (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. 1958 Sparks & Kneese tr. Guilcher's Coastal & Submarine Morphology iii. 64 That notches or nips at the base of cliffs are due to mechanical erosion is often much more improbable. |
▪ II. nip, n.2
Also 8 nyp.
[app. an abbreviation of nipperkin: cf. nipper n.2]
1. † a. A half-pint of ale. Obs. b. A small quantity of spirits, usually less than a glass.
| 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3), Nyp or Nip, a half pint, a nip of ale; whence the nipperkin, a small vessel. Ibid. s.v., Nyp Shop..where Burton ale is sold in nyps. 1824 Blackw. Mag. XV. 441 Sit down to drink his Burton at 3d. the nip. 1869 Trollope He knew, etc. xvi, A so-called nip of brandy will create hilarity, or, at least, alacrity. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 127 I'd have been all the better for a nip. |
2. Comb. nip bottle, a miniature bottle of spirits (literally, one containing enough for one drink); nip joint U.S., an establishment illegally selling (small quantities of) spirits.
| 1915 A. D. Gillespie 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. |
| 1936 Ibid. 28 Jan. 9/1 The bills were opposed by..Raye O. Lawson,..who said the legislation would increase bootlegging and ‘*nip joints’. 1938 Ibid. 10 Sept. 4/1 The court ordered restored to the owners a house which had been padlocked on conviction of a tenant for operating a ‘nip joint’. |
▪ III. † nip, n.3 Obs. rare.
In 4 nippe, nype.
[Of uncertain origin and meaning; perhaps repr. OE. ᵹenip gloom, darkness. Other senses suggested are ‘place of piercing cold’ and ‘peak’, ‘hill-top’ (Skeat Gloss.).]
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 162 Out of the nippe [C. xxi. 168 nype] of the north nouȝt ful fer hennes. |
▪ IV. nip, n.4
Also 7 nipp(e.
[variant of nep n.1: cf. MDu. nippe.]
1. Catmint, catnip. Now dial.
| 1651 French Distill. ii. 61 Take of the Leaves of..Nippe, Peny-royall, of each 2 handfull. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 562 They purge their nauseous Stomachs by eating of Grass, as Cats do theirs by eating the Herb Nipp. 1882 Hardwicke's Science Gossip 214/2 Suffolk Names—..‘brakes’ (bracken); ‘nip’ (cat-mint); ‘gottridge’ (gelder-rose). 1895 E. Anglian Gloss., Nip, the herb cat-mint, which being covered with a fine white down, has given rise to a common simile ‘as white as nip’. |
† 2. Bryony. Obs. rare—1.
| 1648 Hexham 11, Een Alf Pape, a white Vine, or Nippe. |
▪ V. † nip, n.5
obs. variant of nib n. 2.
| 1721 Bailey, Nip,..the sharp Part of a Pen. 1727 W. Mather Yng. Man's Comp. 74 When you have done writing, set the Nips of your Pens in Water, for the Copperas in the Ink will fret the Nips. |
▪ VI. nip, v.1
Also 4–6 nyp(pe, 6–7 nippe, 8 knip.
[app. an ablaut-variant of the stem nīp-, which appears in Du. nijpen, to nipe v.2 The precise source of the word, and its relation to some foreign forms (as Da. nippe to twitch, to sip, Du. and G. nippen to sip, Du. nippen to wrangle), are uncertain. Cf. also gnip and knip.]
I. trans.
1. To compress or catch between two surfaces or points; to pinch, squeeze sharply, bite.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 104 Thenne a-waked Wratthe with to white eyen, With a nyuylynge nose nyppyng hus lyppes. ? a 1400 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 202 Nyppyng his body withe pynsons. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 7 Ye haue byten and nypte myn vncle wyth your felle and sharp teeth. 1530 Palsgr. 644/1 He hath nypped me by the arme tyll it is blacke. 1535 Coverdale Eccl. xxii. 24 He that nyppeth a mans eye, bryngeth forth teares. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. x. 86 They doe bite and with their teeth nip one another. 1633 Sanderson Serm. II. 41 Biting, and nipping, and devouring one another. 1658 (title) Naps upon Parnassus: A Sleepy Muse Nipt and Pincht,..by Captain Jones and others. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 83 She..nips the portion of her snuff with tears. 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge (1863) 178 A creature who would have thought it capital sport to have nipped you in two. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. I. xxii. (1879) 501 Throwing one leg across the other I accidentally nipped a muscle. |
| fig. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 224 This thyng nipped kyng Edwarde hardly at the verie stomacke. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 27 And sharp Remorse his hart did prick and nip. a 1649 Crashaw Carmen Deo Nostro Wks. (1904) 289 Those ignoble stings That nip the bosome of the world's best things. |
† b. To close up (a glass vessel) by pressing together the heated end of the neck or tube. Obs.
| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. 91 Howe to nip or close a Glasse with a paire of hot tongues, which is commonlie called Sigillum Hermetis. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, Put 'hem in a Bolts-head, nipp'd to digestion. 1651 French Distill. i. 7 The way to nip up a glasse, or seal it up Hermitically is after this manner. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 36 Nip up the slender Pipe and let it cool. |
c. Naut. (See latest quots.) Also absol.
| 1667 Davenant & Dryden Tempest i. i, Nip well there; quartermaster, get's more nippers. 1850 Ogilvie s.v., To nip the cable, in marine language, is to tie or secure it with a seizing. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. 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. |
d. Naut. Of ice: To squeeze or crush (the sides of a vessel).
| 1850 S. Osborn Stray Leaves Arctic Jrnl. (1852) 72 Penny had passed a long way inside of the spot the steamers had been beset and nipped in. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xvi. (1856) 123 We momentarily expected it to ‘nip’ her sides, or bear her down with the pressure. 1886 A. W. Greely Arct. 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. 1966 T. Armstrong et al. Gloss. Snow & Ice 29 Nip, ice is said to nip when it forcibly presses against a ship which is beset. A vessel so caught, though undamaged, is said to have been nipped. |
2. To sever, remove, or take off, by pinching.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3940 Of sum þai nyppid fra þe nebb þe nose be þe eȝen. a 1450 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 23 Take þe red worme & nyp of þe hed. 1566 T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel Ep., As if he had nipped a saying of S. Gregory quite in the middest. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 110 The Gardners..did themselves nip of some buds. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 34, I nipped off the small top. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (J.), The small shoots..must be nipt off. a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 91 When our webs are at the close, He nips aff twa three shillings. 1839 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. |
b. To strip or make bare by pinching or biting; to remove small portions of (a thing), to reduce the amount of. rare.
| a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting 448 They kow'd all the kytrall, the face of it before; And nipped it sa doones neir, to see it was shame. 1736 Ramsay Sc. Prov. (1750) 126 Ye was set aff frae the oon for nipping the pyes. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v. Nip-cheese, Those gentlemen being supposed sometimes to nip, or diminish the allowance of the seamen. 1839 Moir Mansie Wauch (ed. 2) xxii, The milk-cows were nipping the clovery parks. |
c. To borrow, to obtain by wheedling. Cf. nip n.1 1. slang (chiefly Austral.).
| 1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 35 Nip, to cadge (or ‘Put in the Nips’). 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 209 To nip, to cadge. |
† 3. to nip by, in, or on the neck, head, or pate: a. To overpower or overcome (a person) with, or as with, a sudden grip or pinch on these parts; to reduce to a state of helplessness. Obs.
| c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. ix. (Wolf & Fox) xxxix, Deith cummis behynd, and nippis thame be the nek. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 359 This question so earnestlye asked..nipped him in the head. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 38 Menaphon halfe nipte in the pate with this replie..made this aunswere. 1620 Sanderson Serm. I. 142 This nipped him in the head, and strook cold to his heart. 1667 Dryden & Dk. Newcastle Sir M. Mar-all iv. i, Lord, sir, how you stand, as you were nipped i' the head! |
† b. To give a decisive or final check to (something). Obs.
| 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. To Rdr., This monstrous brood shalbe nipped in the head so soone as euer it shall dare to shew it selfe. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 91 This outward sainted Deputie, Whose setled visage..Nips youth i'th head, and follies doth emmew. 1642 Rogers Naaman 103 Ere ever Christ be truely closed with, sinne must be nipt in the necke. |
4. † To check, stop, put an end to, cut short. Obs.
| 1600 Holland Livy v. xxx, More Tribes nipped that one law for going forward, than gave their voices to approove it. 1608 D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 92 b, Wherewith he nipt the bloody instigations of those Parasits. 1625–8 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iii. (1688) 327 The Queen..nipped the man at unawares in his swelling Pride by this one short letter. |
† b. Of the wind: To catch and delay (a ship). Obs.
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 18 Look well to the Westward, if you can see any Ships that have been nipt with the last Easterly Winds. |
c. To defeat narrowly (in a sporting contest). U.S.
| 1942 Berrey & 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. 1951 Amer. Speech XXVI. 230/2 Oregon nips St. Mary's. 1966 N.Y. Times (Internat. ed.) 22 Apr. 12/1 The Pirates nipped the Reds, 3–2. 1969 Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard 3 Dec. 1D/5 The Ducks..will continue their three-game..against highly rated Florida State, which nipped touring Oregon State 69–68 Tuesday night. 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. |
5. To check the growth or development of (something), after the manner of pinching off the buds or shoots of a plant. Also with off.
| 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. (1887) 145 It is much better to nip misorder in the verie ground. 1682 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. a 1716 South Serm. (1727) VI. 157 God's Prescription is..that we nip Sin when it begins to bud in the Thoughts. 1784 Cowper Task v. 439 That man should thus encroach on fellow-man,..nip his fruitfulness and use..Moves indignation. 1817 Coleridge Sybil. Leaves, Some sweet girl of too rapid growth Nipped by Consumption. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxii. 52 Yet if a slender nail hath nipt his bloom to deflour it. 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls ii. 78 Nip these foolish fronds Of hope a-sprout. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 742/2 Small establishments for the treatment of manufacturing refuse..are nipped off by a rise in the price of fuel. |
b. to nip in the bud: To arrest or check at the very beginning, or in a thorough fashion.
| 1606–7 Fletcher Woman Hater iii. i, Yet I can frown, and Nip a passion, Even in the bud. 1639 Cokaine Masque Dram. Wks. (1874) 8 Dost thou approach to censure our delights, And nip them in the bud? 1677 Govt. Venice 307 Had not the Senat..nipt their Animosity in the Bud. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 526 ¶2 Holding it extremely requisite that you should nip him in the Bud. 1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) 23 He has nipped infancy in its bud. 1844 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1866) III. 321 Insurrections have broken out.., and Government are taking strong measures to nip them in the bud. 1861 Buckle Civiliz. II. viii. (1873) 565 This and many other noble projects were nipped in the bud by the death of Charles III. |
6. Of cold: To affect (persons, etc.) painfully or injuriously.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 48 If..colde wether had not nipped them,..they would have made their progress farther. [1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Dec. 133 The carefull cold hath nypt my rugged rynde.] 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 48 Men dangerously nipp'd by excessive cold. 1704 Steele Lying Lover i. (1747) 15 To see the dear things trip, trip along, and breathe so short, nipt with the Season. 1829 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 4 One of the coldest nights that ever nipped a nose. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xii, The wind blew keenly, nipping the features. |
| fig. 1596 Drayton Legends ii. 601 Nipt with cold Death. 1604 Middleton Father Hubburd's T. Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 54 A physical frost, that nips the wicked blood a little. |
b. To check or destroy the growth of (plants, blossoms, etc.). Also in fig. context.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 812 If frosts..Nip not the gaudie blossomes of your Loue. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 14 Roots being so weakly put, are soone nipt with drought or frost. 1671 Milton Samson 1577 The first-born bloom of spring Nipt with the lagging rear of winters frost. 1718 Rowe Lucan 128 To parch the fading Herb and nip the springing Green. 1778 Edwards 17 Apr. in Boswell Johnson, I am curious to see if this frost has not nipped my fruit-trees. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xxx, 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. |
† 7. To censure, reprehend, or rebuke sharply; to direct sharp remarks against (one). Obs. (very common c 1565–1600).
| 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Luke viii. 93 He touched and nipped y⊇ pharisees and scribes. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 163 Nipping your people with sharpe reprehensions. 1602 W. Fulbecke 2nd Pt. Parall. 26 He was..more then nipped of Aristophanes. [1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) I. i. xxii. 127 The boys of divers schools.., with Epigrams and Rhimes, nipping and quipping their fellows.] |
8. To touch or concern (one) closely; to affect painfully, to vex. Now rare.
| 1553 Bradford Treat. Prayer Pref., These perilous days of necessity so nip us and provoke us to pray. 1574 tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 14 His hart is nipped with heauinesse. 1622 Rowlands Good Newes & B. 36 My wooing ouer⁓throwne, my horse play marr'd, As I am Gentleman, this nips me hard. 1633 Earle Microcosm., Suspitious Man (Arb.) 103 Not a word can bee spoke, but nips him somewhere. 1897 B. Harraden H. Strafford, etc. 199 It was just that which nipped me. I had done a wrong to her, and she had done a wrong to me. |
9. To snatch, catch, seize or take smartly. Also with away, out, up. Chiefly dial. or slang.
| c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iv. 92 The moir degest and grave, The grydiar to grip it; The nycest to ressave Vpoun the nynis will nip it. 1601 F. Godwin Bps. of Eng. 123 That house..belonged vnto the Archdeaconry, but..was long since nipped away from the same. 1677 Nicolson Gloss. in Trans. R. Soc. Lit. (1870) IX. 316 Nip, to..pilfer. 1768 Ross Helenore iii. 122 Frae your ain uncles gate was nipt awa' That bonny bairn. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. 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. 1894 Columbus Disp. 10 Sept., A business man..from whom he nipped a $250 shirt stud. |
b. slang. To arrest.
| a 1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pith. in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 19, I go into the city some knaves to nip.., with their goods to increase the kings treasure. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) 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 Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 147 (Farmer), They'd follow you about, and keep on nipping a fellow. |
c. to nip a bung, etc. (See quots. and bung n.2)
| 1573 Harman Caveat (1869) 84 To nyp a boung, to cut a pursse. 1592 Greene Conny Catch. iii. Wks. (Grosart) X. 157 This crew of mates..said there was no hope of nipping the boung because he held open his gowne so wide. 1621 B. Jonson Gipsies Metam. Wks. (Rtldg.) 619/1 Till..he be able..to nip a jaw, and cly the jark, 'tis thought fit he march in the infant's equipage. 1712 Shirley Triumph Wit (1724) 171 If the Cully he does meet, He nips all his Lour. 1740 Poor Robin (Farmer), The cut-purse in the throng, Hath a fair means to nyp a bung. |
d. Cricket. To strike (a ball) with the edge of the bat, to tip. rare—1.
| 17.. Laws Cricket in Grace Cricket (1891) 14 If a Ball is nipped up and he [the batter] Strikes her again Wilfully before She comes to ye Wicket, its out. |
II. intr.
10. To give a nip or pinch; to cause or produce pinching.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 161 Thay can nyp at oure hyre. Ibid. 290 If the flok be skard, yit shall I nyp nere. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. x. E j. The lesser shoe doth hurt thy foote for pardie it will nip. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xx. (1887) 87 The Eastwinde is hurtefull and nippes. 1865 Tester Poems 9 (E.D.D.), Words that nip like plasters. 1891 Kipling City Dreadf. Nt. iii, Machinery that planes and shaves,..and punches and hoists and nips. |
b. To ache, to smart.
| 1737 Ramsay Sc. Prov. (1750) 124 Ye're new risen and your young heart's nipping. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 26 (E.D.D.), O! but my heart nips for the pain, While thro' the green she wanders. |
† 11. Cant. To pick pockets, to steal. Obs.
| 1592 Def. Conny Catch. (1859) 4, I had consorts that could verse, nippe, and foyst. a 1634 Randolph Hey for Honesty iii. i, I'll nip from Ruffmans of the Harmanbeck. |
12. slang. To move rapidly or nimbly. (In quot. 1919 trans.) Const. with in, out, up, etc. Freq. fig., as to cut in, and in extended use, to move informally or unobtrusively, often quickly, away, out, etc. Occas. without adv.
| 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Nip up,..to move quickly. 1863 Lanc. Fents 27 So he nipt up th' tree like a cat. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 159 Pray nip out of the road as quickly as you can. 1889 D. C. Murray Dangerous Catspaw 147 ‘Nip in, sir’, said the driver. ‘Where do you want to go to?’ 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air v. 155 She [sc. a ship] had..nipped in between the Susquehanna and the Kansas City. 1909 A. Quiller-Couch True Tilda xiii. 169 ‘If they catch up with us we must nip into a gateway,’ panted Tilda. 1919 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Feb. 107/3 ‘The light-hearted snottie’ who nipped in his piquet boat across the knife-edged ram of a fast travelling cruiser. 1920 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 111/2 Your friend..nips in and takes up the running, and you are out of the hunt. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Let. 9 Apr. in C. Mackenzie My Life & Times (1966) V. 177 Nip over here for a short while! 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars lviii. 355 So, watching the time, one or two of the quicker youths nipped across to drag back the saddle-bags. 1930 M. Allingham Mystery Mile xxi. 199 ‘Shall we nip off?’ said Knapp nervously. 1930 W. S. Maugham Bread-Winner 115 If Uncle Alfred wants us to get out we'd better nip before Daddy comes back. 1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement vi. 299 Now then,..just nip back for the plates. 1947 People 22 June 7/5 Meantime, Club No. 2..nipped in, handed the ‘very famous footballer’ the thousand smackers.., and clinched the transfer. 1955 M. Gilbert Sky High viii. 115 If you nip along now..you could catch her before the practice starts. 1962 C. Oman Mary of Modena v. 187 All the visiting English who could manage it quietly nipped off to see the Prince of Wales. 1969 Listener 14 Aug. 205/2 Nipping out for a smoke during the odd bit of Schoenberg. 1973 A. Mann Tiara xiii. 118 Piccoli's will still be open. Shall I nip down and get pictures of all these types? |
b. Of a cricket ball: to come sharply off the pitch; also absol.
| 1899 Captain I. 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. |
13. Comb. as † nip-bud (see quot.); † nip-cake, -crust, -farthing, a mean or miserly person (cf. mod. dial. nip-currant, -screed, -skin, etc.); nip-nosed a., having a small pinched nose; † nip-shred, a tailor; † nip-skin v., to pinch severely; nip-waisted a., having a pinched-in waist. Also nipcheese.
| 1658 Evelyn Fr. Gard. (1675) 101 There is also another kind of small worm, which they call the *Nip-bud. |
| 1508 Dunbar Flyting 177 Nyse nagus, *nipcaik, with thy schulderis narrow. |
| 1650 H. More Observ. in Enthus. Tri., etc. (1656) 81 A *Nip-crust or Niggard of your precious speculations. |
| 1566 Drant Med. Morall A vii, I woulde the not a *nipfarthinge Nor yet a niggarde haue. |
| 1831 Westm. Rev. XIV. 424 The crow-footed, *nip-nosed spareness of thirty. |
| 1661 K. W. Charact. Coxcombs, Hyde-Pk. Lady (1860) 58 Though her nimble *nipshred never medles with the garments. |
| 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 125 Finally render like for like, that may *nipskin her. |
| 1899 Crampton's Mag. Jan. 113 A peevish, *nip-waisted, frizzle-fringed, flirty, flighty, governess. |
▪ VII. nip, v.2
[f. nip n.2 The resemblance to Du. and G. nippen (Da. nippe), to sip, is evidently quite accidental.]
1. intr. To take nips of liquor.
| 1887 Lady Bellairs Gossips w. 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. |
2. trans. To take (liquor) in nips.
| 1897 W. H. Thornton Reminisc. Clergym. xi. 323 Some of our young men nip wine or spirits all day long. |
▪ VIII. † nip
obs. or dial. form of neap v.
| 1709 S. Sewall Diary 18 Nov., The Ship was on the Ground, and [Capt. Teat] fear'd he should be nip'd. |