What does "kipper" mean?
A split, salted and smoked herring or salmon.
Kipper
/ˈkɪpə(ɹ)/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A split, salted and smoked herring or salmon.
- Grammar: kipper is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: alevin, anguille, anhydrate, benthon.
- Useful contrasts: fresh herring, freshen.
- Usage evidence: Today I had some kipper for breakfast.
How to use "kipper"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "kipper" 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 "kipper" 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 "kipper" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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- 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.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "kipper" is acting as adj, 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
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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.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "kipper", 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 A split, salted and smoked herring or salmon.
- 2 A member or supporter of UKIP (UK Independence Party). UK, humorous, informal, often
- 3 A type of fortune-telling cards. countable, uncountable
- 4 salted and smoked herring wordnet
- 5 A male salmon after spawning.
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 A supporter or member of UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party). countable, uncountable
- 7 A patrol to protect fishing boats in the Irish and North Seas against attack from the air.
"Kipper, I discovered, was airman's slang for a fishing boat. The chief function of this particular station was the escorting of convoys and fishing fleets, and the section which had the latter duty to perform was known as the ‘Kipper Patrol’."
- 8 A torpedo. UK, slang
"As she was only crawling along I aimed my first ‘kipper’ just a fraction ahead of her bows."
- 9 An Englishman who has moved to Australia. Australia, slang
"1 Kipper, Englishman"
- 10 A young Aboriginal man who has been initiated into to the rights of manhood. Australia
"With these weapons the natives invest their young men at the age of from fourteen to sixteen years... These young men are then called kippers, and for the first time enjoy the privilege of taking an active part in the fight."
- 11 A fool.
"Don't push so, 'Liza; you're a-knockin' my 'at off, yer silly kipper!'"
- 12 A child or young person. endearing
"Half-a-dozen dreadfully common young bicyclists were commenting on her discomfiture with delighted exclamations of ‘Giddy old Kipper’, ‘Sweet Seventeen’, ‘Cheero, Maudie—you'll win!’"
- 13 The vagina. UK, slang
Verb
- 1 To prepare (a herring or similar fish) by splitting, salting, and smoking.
"There was kippered salmon, and Finnan haddocks, and a lamb's head, and a haggis[…]"
- 2 To damage or treat with smoke. broadly
""Your own fault. Did you imagine I was going to live on a gasring, because you wouldn't have your chimney repaired?" Then Diva got a tenant in spite of the kippered bathroom, and moved to a dilapidated hovel close beside the railway line, which she got for half the rent which she received for her house."
- 3 To dry out with heat or harsh chemicals; to desiccate.
"She was the daintiest and most exquisite little figure imaginable, never did she stir out of doors without layers of veil to protect her from the kippering effects of sun and wind, and she preserved untouched by unguents or “mess” the complexion of a girl, smooth and soft and unwrinkled."
- 4 To drink or give a drink of alcohol, especially to intoxication.
"No man should appear at his day's labors unless well kippered. May I kipper you, madam ”"
- 5 To punish by spanking or caning.
"Where of old, with awful mysteries and diabolic din, They “kippered” adolescents in the presence of their kin"
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To lead astray or frame; to cause to get into trouble.
"As for Mr. Mowbray you must know that he is not only the chief plotter, inventor, and spreader abroad of all these base calumnies, but he did also, like a fool, vent before his going home, to one whom he though had not been my friend, that he had taken notes of all words spoken by me in Scotland, and that he would construct and relate them to the Marquis of Hamilton, and so kipper me at the King's hands, that I should have no more pension."
- 7 To utterly defeat or humiliate.
"Were the missing crewmen kippered by a squid?"
Adjective
- 1 Out of season. especially
"These were kipper salmon, and an acquaintance of mine living at Burton Rowbottom who was trolling for pike at Yoxall, near to King's Bromley, got a run, five years ago, and caught a beautiful salmon weighting 25 lbs."
- 2 lively; chipper; nimble. UK, dialectal
"Thus he goes on, from morn till eve, from season to season, year in and year out, semingly impervious to the weather, being altogether too kipper and grievous to be taken with anything worse than a ' snivelly cold . '"
- 3 Very wide, shaped like a kipper.
"Blades initiated a regeneration in modern British tailoring that from the mid-sixties began by flirting somewhat uneasily with the hippie style -- its most flamboyant exponent being Michael Fish, who opened premises in Piccadilly in 1966, introducing the kipper tie , Russian-style side-fastening tunics, see-through shirts and mini skirts for men."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
fresh herringfreshen
Example
"Today I had some kipper for breakfast."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "kipper"?
Common synonyms include: alevin, anguille, anhydrate, benthon, benthos, blast-freeze.
How do you use "kipper" in a sentence?
Today I had some kipper for breakfast.
How do you pronounce "kipper"?
Pronounced /ˈkɪpə(ɹ)/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Old English cypera (“male salmon”), perhaps related to Old English coper (“reddish-brown metal”) (see copper), on resemblance of color. Another theory connects it to kip (“sharp, hooked lower jaw of the male salmon in breeding season”), from Middle English kippen (“to seize, snatch”), but OED doubts this.
Etymology 2
Short form of UKIP + -er, influenced by kipper, the type of fish.
Etymology 3
Perhaps akin to Old Norse kjapt (“briskly; impetuously”), kippa ("to snatch; pull; jerk" > Middle English kippen (“to seize”)), kipra (“to wrinkle; draw tightly”), Norwegian kjapp (“fast; brisk”), Dutch kippen (“to seize; catch; grip”). More at kip.