nip



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


Nip \Nip\, n. [LG. & D. nippen to sip; akin to Dan. nippe, G.
   nippen.]
   A sip or small draught; esp., a draught of intoxicating
   liquor; a dram.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


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.
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            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.
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   2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting
      edges of anything; to clip.
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            The small shoots . . . must be nipped off.
                                                  --Mortimer.
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   3. Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor
      of; to destroy.
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   4. To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt.
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            And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.
                                                  --Spenser.
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   To nip in the bud, to cut off at the very commencement of
      growth; to kill in the incipient stage.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


Nip \Nip\, n.
   1. A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, in the
      northern seas, the nip of masses of ice.
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   2. A pinch with the nails or teeth.
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   3. A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
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   4. A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
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   5. A biting sarcasm; a taunt. --Latimer.
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   6. (Naut.) A short turn in a rope.
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   Nip and tuck, a phrase signifying equality in a contest;
      as, it was nip and tuck right to the last minute of play.
      [Low, U.S.]
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