What does "kip" mean?
The untanned hide of a young or small beast, such as a calf, lamb, or young goat.
Kip
/kɪp/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The untanned hide of a young or small beast, such as a calf, lamb, or young goat.
- Grammar: kip is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: bed, bed, bunk, catch some z's.
- Useful contrasts: alertness, awake, wake.
- Usage evidence: My mother has a kip every afternoon.
How to use "kip"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "kip" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "kip" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "kip" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "kip" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "kip" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bed" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "kip", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The untanned hide of a young or small beast, such as a calf, lamb, or young goat. countable, uncountable
- 2 A place to sleep; a rooming house; a bed. Ireland, UK, informal
- 3 A unit of force equal to 1000 pounds-force (lbf) (4.44822 kilonewtons or 4448.22 newtons); occasionally called the kilopound.
- 4 The unit of currency in Laos, divided into 100 att, symbol ₭, abbreviation LAK.
- 5 A piece of flat wood used to throw the coins in a game of two-up. Australia
"Again Turk placed the pennies on the kip. He took his time, deliberate over the small action, held the kip for a long breathless moment, then jerked his wrist and the pennies were in the air."
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 A basic skill or maneuver in artistic gymnastics on the uneven bars, parallel bars, high bar and still rings used, for example, as a way of mounting the bar in a front support position, or achieving a handstand from a hanging position. In its basic form, the legs are swung forward and upward by bending the hips, then suddenly down again, which gives the upward impulse to the body.
- 7 Initialism of kinetic impact round (baton round). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 8 a gymnastic exercise performed starting from a position with the legs over the upper body and moving to an erect position by arching the back and swinging the legs out and down while forcing the chest upright wordnet
- 9 A bundle or set of such hides. countable, uncountable
- 10 Sleep, snooze, nap, forty winks, doze. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, informal
"I’m just going for my afternoon kip."
- 11 A unit of weight, used, for example, to calculate shipping charges, equal to half a US ton, or 1000 pounds.
- 12 A sharp-pointed hill; a projecting point, as on a hill. Scotland
- 13 the basic unit of money in Laos wordnet
- 14 A unit of count for skins, 30 for lamb and 50 for goat. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 15 A very untidy house or room. Ireland, UK, informal
- 16 A unit of mass equal to 1000 avoirdupois pounds. nonstandard, rare
- 17 sleep wordnet
- 18 The leather made from such hide. countable, uncountable
"'Stockings, madam? Shoes?' 'Yes, your Honor — both.' 'Yarn, perhaps? Morocco?' 'Yarn, your Honor. And kip.'"
- 19 A brothel. Ireland, UK, dated, informal
Verb
- 1 To sleep; often with the connotation of a temporary or charitable situation, or one borne out of necessity. UK, informal
"Don’t worry, I’ll kip on the sofabed."
- 2 To snatch; take up hastily; filch Northern-England, Scotland, dialectal, transitive
- 3 To perform the kip maneuver. intransitive
- 4 be asleep wordnet
- 5 To hold or keep (together) intransitive, obsolete
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To conduct oneself; act Northern-England, dialectal, intransitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A diminutive of the male given name Kipling.
Antonyms
Example
"My mother has a kip every afternoon."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "kip"?
Common synonyms include: bed, bed, bunk, catch some z's, catnap, cent.
How do you use "kip" in a sentence?
My mother has a kip every afternoon.
How do you pronounce "kip"?
Pronounced /kɪp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
1325–75, Middle English kipp, from Middle Dutch kip, from Middle Low German kip (“pack, bundle of hides”).
Etymology 2
1760–70, probably related to Danish kippe (“dive, hovel, cheap inn”) and Middle Low German kiffe (“hovel”). From the same distant Germanic root as cove.
Etymology 3
From Middle English kippen, from Old Norse kippa (“to pull; snatch”) or Middle Dutch kippen (“to grasp, seize, catch”). Cognate with Norwegian kippe (“to snatch”), Swedish kippa (“to snatch; jerk”); Dutch kippen (“to seize; catch”). Perhaps conflated with some senses of Middle English kepen (“to keep, observe, guard, take possession of, snatch”) (see keep).
Etymology 4
1910–15, Americanism, abbreviated from kilo + pound.
Etymology 5
1950–55, from Lao ກີບ (kīp).
Etymology 6
Unknown. Perhaps related to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialect kep, to toss up into the air. Or else, perhaps related to German Kippe (“stub”).
Etymology 7
From kip (“sleep, lie down”).
Etymology 8
Clipping of Kipling.