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Clipper
Definitions
- 1 A surname from German. countable, uncountable
- 2 An unincorporated community in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. countable, uncountable
- 1 Anything or anyone that clips.
"Yes, perhaps I’d better begin there, at the moment when I […] asked a question carelessly enough of one of the locals, who was clipping a hedge in a desultory fashion nearby. […] When I passed my hedge clipper again, he said, […]"
- 2 scissors for cutting hair or finger nails wordnet
- 3 A tool used for clipping something, such as hair, coins, or fingernails. in-plural
- 4 shears for cutting grass or shrubbery wordnet
- 5 Something that moves swiftly; especially:; Any of several forms of very fast sailing ships having a long, low hull and a sharply raked stem.
"And those were the days of clippers, and the freights were clipper-freights,"
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- 6 a fast sailing ship used in former times wordnet
- 7 Something that moves swiftly; especially:; An Alberta clipper. informal
- 8 (electronics) a nonlinear electronic circuit whose output is limited in amplitude; used to limit the instantaneous amplitude of a waveform (to clip off the peaks of a waveform) wordnet
- 9 An Asian butterfly of species Parthenos sylvia, family Nymphalidae.
- 10 A circuit which prevents the amplitude of a wave from exceeding a set value.
- 11 A person who mutilates coins by fraudulently paring the edges. historical
"Indeed, the French may lay twenty French crowns to one, they will beat us; for they bear them on their shoulders: but it is no English treason to cut French crowns, and to-morrow the king himself will be a clipper."
- 12 A confidence trickster; a conman. slang
""You have head enough for both of us, Beck," said he. "You're sure to get us out of the scrape. I never saw your equal, and I've met with some clippers in my time too.""
- 13 Anything showy or first-rate. obsolete, slang
"Well, he was courtin' Sister Sall. She was a real handsum looking gal; […] a real clipper, and as full of fun and frolic as a kitten."
- 1 To cut or style (the hair) using clippers. transitive
"Rocks was having his hair clippered by another prisoner when Collins calmly walked past and sliced open the side of his face without breaking his stride."
Etymology
From Middle English clipper, equivalent to clip (“cut, shorten”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). The type of sailing ship is probably also from clip, in the sense of “move or run rapidly”. Perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch klepper (“swift horse”), from kleppen (“to clap”), which is onomatopoeic.
From Middle English clipper, equivalent to clip (“cut, shorten”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). The type of sailing ship is probably also from clip, in the sense of “move or run rapidly”. Perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch klepper (“swift horse”), from kleppen (“to clap”), which is onomatopoeic.
Americanized spelling of German Klipper.
See also for "clipper"
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