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blip

[blip] /blɪp/
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noun
1.
Also called pip. Electronics.
  1. a spot of light on a radar screen indicating the position of a plane, submarine, or other object.
  2. (loosely) any small spot of light on a display screen.
2.
a brief upturn, as in revenue or income:
The midwinter blip was no cause for optimism among store owners.
3.
anything small, as in amount or number:
a blip of light; Those opposed were merely a blip in the opinion polls.
4.
bleep (def 3).
5.
Slang. a nickel; five cents.
6.
Movies. a mark of synchronization on a sound track.
7.
a small or brief interruption, as in the continuity of a motion-picture film or the supply of light or electricity:
There were blips in the TV film where the commercials had been edited out.
verb (used without object), blipped, blipping.
8.
Informal. to move or proceed in short, irregular, jerking movements:
The stock market has blipped one point higher this week.
verb (used with object), blipped, blipping.
9.
bleep (def 5).
Origin of blip
1890-1895
1890-95, for an earlier sense; sound symbolism, with p for brevity and abrupt end of the impulse; bl- perhaps from blink
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2017.
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Examples from the Web for blip
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples

  • There in front of him was a blip, traveling at amazing speed, straight for his ship.

    On the Trail of the Space Pirates Carey Rockwell

  • There was the blip of the leading ship, the "point" of the formation.

    Talents, Incorporated William Fitzgerald Jenkins

  • After a long time the blip reached the bottom, and the vertical line became double and another blip began to descend.

    Sand Doom William Fitzgerald Jenkins

  • "Picked up a blip on the radar, Captain," replied the radar officer.

    On the Trail of the Space Pirates Carey Rockwell

  • Let me know the minute you get a blip, because it probably will be that Consops cruiser.

    Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet Harold Leland Goodwin
British Dictionary definitions for blip

blip

/blɪp/
noun
1.
a repetitive sound, such as that produced by an electronic device, by dripping water, etc
2.
Also called pip. the spot of light or a sharply peaked pulse on a radar screen indicating the position of an object
3.
a temporary irregularity recorded in performance of something
verb blips, blipping, blipped
4.
(intransitive) to produce such a noise
Word Origin
C20: of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for blip
n.

1894, in reference to a kind of popping sound, of echoic origin. Radar screen sense is from 1945. As a verb from 1924. Related: Blipped; blipping.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang definitions & phrases for blip

blip

adjective

  1. Excellent; very good (1930s+ Jive talk)
  2. hip (1950s+ Cool talk)

noun

  1. A luminous signal on a radar screen: Birds can cause blips on radar screens (1940s+)
  2. A rapid increase and decrease; quick peaking: The bond bulls argue that commodities' rally is a blip/ despite temporary blips up and down (1980s+)

verb

  1. To encroach upon, as one aircraft's image on a radar screen might enter the territory of another aircraft: Cartridge-makers blip into Atari's airspace, attracted by the enormous profit potential (1980s+)
  2. To censor a taped word or passage by erasing it electronically from the tape and substituting a ''bleep'': Occasionally Mr Carson's lines are ''blipped'' (1960s+)

[most senses fr earlier blip, ''a sharp blow or twitch'']

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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