Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Sharp and biting, as the cold.
  • adjective Bitingly sarcastic.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Biting; pinching; painful; destructive

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of nip.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective capable of wounding
  • adjective pleasantly cold and invigorating

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Besides overseeing the continuous adjustment, by trimming of sails and orders to the helmsman, of the Arangi to her way on the sea, and overseeing the boat's crew at its task of washing deck and polishing brasswork, he was engaged in steadily nipping from a stolen bottle of his captain's whiskey which he had stowed away in the hollow between the two sacks of yams lashed on deck aft the mizzenmast.

    Chapter 7 1917

  • Besides overseeing the continuous adjustment, by trimming of sails and orders to the helmsman, of the Arangi to her way on the sea, and overseeing the boat’s crew at its task of washing deck and polishing brasswork, he was engaged in steadily nipping from a stolen bottle of his captain’s whiskey which he had stowed away in the hollow between the two sacks of yams lashed on deck aft the mizzenmast.

    CHAPTER VII 2010

  • In a sexual behavior known as 'nipping,' males contact their snouts to the female genital area prior to copulation.

    Carin Bondar: Excuse Me... I Think You've Got Something Stuck on Your Upper Lip Carin Bondar 2012

  • In a sexual behavior known as 'nipping,' males contact their snouts to the female genital area prior to copulation.

    Carin Bondar: Excuse Me... I Think You've Got Something Stuck on Your Upper Lip Carin Bondar 2012

  • Lo, there is a gun before him, and the shade of a stately stag nipping the phantom of a youthful hazel.

    Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 1 (of 3) James Athearn Jones

  • In a sexual behavior known as 'nipping,' males contact their snouts to the female genital area prior to copulation.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Carin Bondar 2012

  • This gives it better low-speed stability than a normal motorbike and should help it appeal to people who've never ridden one, but like the idea of nipping in and out of traffic on a nimble urban vehicle.

    Crave at CNET UK Rory Reid 2010

  • And Chase running around behind Foreman, kind of nipping at his ankles Pay the man!

    Squealy fangirl stuff. 2006

  • And Chase running around behind Foreman, kind of nipping at his ankles Pay the man!

    Archive 2006-11-01 2006

  • It was not only spiteful enemies in human form, that sent crashing shells and piercing bullets, but every kind of nipping, boring, sucking, and stinging creatures in the air and on the earth, that our brave soldiers, and especially our wounded, had to face.

    Charles Carleton Coffin War Correspondent, Traveller, Author, and Statesman William Elliot Griffis 1885

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