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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