Nip

How to spell nip

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce nip

What does nip mean?

1. verbTo pinch or bite something sharply and briefly.
2. nounA small quantity of an alcoholic drink, especially spirits.
3. verbTo go somewhere quickly and briefly.

Nip in a sentence

• verb

  The puppy tried to nip my fingers during play.

• noun

  He poured a nip of brandy to warm up after the walk.

• verb

  I need to nip to the shop before it closes.

• verb

  Tight new shoes can nip the heel until the leather softens.

• noun

  She allowed herself one nip of whisky before bed.

• verb

  She offered to nip upstairs and fetch the charger.

Where does nip come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Nip arrived in late Middle English, around the 1300s, most likely from a Low German or Dutch source related to nipen, meaning 'to pinch' or 'to seize sharply'. The word belongs to a family of short, sharp Germanic terms that imitate a quick squeezing action, and its tight, clipped sound seems to mirror its meaning. Over time it broadened from the literal pinch of fingers or teeth to describe the sharp bite of cold weather, as in a frosty nip in the air. The sense of a small measure of spirits is probably a shortening of 'nipperkin', an old word for a small drinking vessel, and the brisk verb meaning 'to dart somewhere quickly' grew naturally from the idea of a sudden, sharp movement. Because it is so short and phonetically plain, nip is one of the rare English words with almost no spelling trap at all.

How the word is built

• nip (single Germanic root meaning to pinch or grip sharply; no prefix or suffix)