What does "nip" mean?
A playful bite.
Nip
/nɪp/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A playful bite.
- Grammar: nip is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: pinch, shot, abbreviate, abduct.
- Useful contrasts: delay, linger.
- Usage evidence: We have to nip this problem in the bud before it gets any worse.
How to use "nip"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "nip" 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 "nip" 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 "nip" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "nip" 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 "nip" 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
Compare it with "pinch" 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 "nip", 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 playful bite.
"The puppy gave his owner’s finger a nip."
- 2 A small amount of food or drink, (particularly) a small amount of liquor.
"I’ll just take a nip of that cake."
- 3 A nipple, usually of a woman. in-plural, slang, vulgar
"Did you manage to sneak a peek at her nips, bro?"
- 4 A hamburger. Northwestern, Ontario
- 5 Alternative spelling of Nip; a Japanese person. alt-of, alternative, dated, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 A Japanese person. dated, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur
"CHUNGKING, Oct. 10—Chinese counterblows against the Japanese offensive in south China have reeled the Nips back from two towns in the approaches to Kweilin, capital city of Kwangsi Province, today’s Chinese High Command communique announced."
- 7 Abbreviation of non-native invasive plant. abbreviation, alt-of
- 8 a small sharp bite or snip wordnet
- 9 A pinch with the nails or teeth.
- 10 Abbreviation of notice of intended prosecution. UK, abbreviation, alt-of
- 11 a tart spicy quality wordnet
- 12 Briskly cold weather.
"There is a nip in the air. It is nippy outside."
- 13 the property of being moderately cold wordnet
- 14 A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching
"the nip of masses of ice"
- 15 the taste experience when a savoury condiment is taken into the mouth wordnet
- 16 A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
- 17 (offensive slang) offensive term for a person of Japanese descent wordnet
- 18 A more or less gradual thinning out of a stratum.
- 19 a small drink of liquor wordnet
- 20 A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
- 21 A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
- 22 A short turn in a rope.
- 23 The place of intersection where one roll touches another
- 24 A pickpocket. UK, obsolete
"A novice nip, newly arrived in London, went one afternoon to the Red Bull in Bishopsgate, an inn converted to a playhouse."
Verb
- 1 To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.
"May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress."
- 2 To have erect nipples. slang, vulgar
- 3 To make a quick, short journey or errand, usually a round trip. informal
"Why don’t you nip down to the grocer’s for some milk?"
- 4 give a small sharp bite to wordnet
- 5 To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
"The small shoots ... must be nipt off."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 sever or remove by pinching or snipping wordnet
- 7 To benumb [e.g., cheeks, fingers, nose] by severe cold.
- 8 squeeze tightly between the fingers wordnet
- 9 To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
- 10 To annoy, as by nipping.
"And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip."
- 11 To taunt.
- 12 To squeeze or pinch. Northern-England, Scotland
- 13 To steal; especially to cut a purse. UK, obsolete
"Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you."
- 14 To affect [one] painfully; to cause physical pain.' obsolete
"He had never expected to fling the soldier, or to be flung by Flea. “One nips or is nipped,” he thought, “and never knows beforehand. …""
Adjective
- 1 Japanese. dated, ethnic, not-comparable, offensive, slang, slur
- 2 Abbreviation of new in package. abbreviation, alt-of, not-comparable
Proper Noun
- 1 Abbreviation of National Immunization Program. US, abbreviation, alt-of
Example
"We have to nip this problem in the bud before it gets any worse."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "nip"?
Common synonyms include: pinch, shot, abbreviate, abduct, abridge, abscind.
How do you use "nip" in a sentence?
We have to nip this problem in the bud before it gets any worse.
How do you pronounce "nip"?
Pronounced /nɪp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), from Middle Low German knîpen, from Old Saxon *knīpan, from Proto-West Germanic *knīpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną (“to pinch”). Related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.
Etymology 2
Short for nipperkin, ultimately from Middle Low German nippen or Middle Dutch nipen ("to sip; nip"; > Dutch nippen). Compare also German nippen (“to sip; taste”).
Etymology 3
Clipping of nipple.
Etymology 4
Canada 1931.
Etymology 5
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Etymology 6
Clipping of Nipponese, derived from Nippon, from Japanese 日本 (Nippon).