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(), 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. 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. 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. 2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip. The small shoots . . . must be nipped off. Mortimer. 3. Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy. 4. To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt. And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip. Spenser. To nip in the bud, to cut off at the verycommencement of growth; to kill in the incipient stage. Nip n. 1. A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, in the northern seas, the nip of masses of ice. 2. A pinch with the nails or teeth. 3. A small cut, or a cutting off the end. 4. A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost. 5. A biting sarcasm; a taunt. Latimer. 6. (Naut.) A short turn in a rope. Nip and tuck, a phrase signifying equality in a contest. [Low, U.S.] スポンサード リンク
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