blip
Americannoun
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Also called pip. Electronics.
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a spot of light on a radar screen indicating the position of a plane, submarine, or other object.
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(loosely) any small spot of light on a display screen.
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a brief upturn, as in revenue or income.
The midwinter blip was no cause for optimism among store owners.
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anything small, as in amount or number.
a blip of light; Those opposed were merely a blip in the opinion polls.
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Slang. a nickel; five cents.
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Movies. a mark of synchronization on a sound track.
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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)
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blips,
present (3rd person singular)
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blipped,
past participle, past
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blipping
present participle
verb (used with object)
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blips,
present (3rd person singular)
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blipped,
past participle, past
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blipping
present participle
noun
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a repetitive sound, such as that produced by an electronic device, by dripping water, etc
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Also called: pip. the spot of light or a sharply peaked pulse on a radar screen indicating the position of an object
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a temporary irregularity recorded in performance of something
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blipsimple
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blipssimple
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have blippedperfect
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has blippedperfect
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am blippingprogressive
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are blippingprogressive
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is blippingprogressive
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have been blippingperfect progressive
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has been blippingperfect progressive
Past
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blippedsimple
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had blippedperfect
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was blippingprogressive
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were blippingprogressive
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had been blippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blip
1890–95, for an earlier sense; sound symbolism, with p for brevity and abrupt end of the impulse; bl- perhaps from blink
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Jean and Joan’s shared existence would otherwise make their days dull and predictable, but their bizarre circumstances let them see beyond their own purview and into someone else’s, even if only for a blip.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Former Premier League defender Curtis Davies believed the Gunners could put the result and display down to a "blip".
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
However, economists and Fed officials noted the drop was likely a blip traced to Amazon’s Prime Day and related promotions that happened in June instead of July.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Volkswagen executives have repeatedly stressed the need for the company to slim down as collapsing sales in China have started to look less like a blip and more like a new normal.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Eighteen out of nineteen Katherines worked, but this utterly insignificant blip on the Katherinadar came out looking like a jacked-up smiley face every time.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
Against that backdrop, shares of Wingstop were down 4.8% on Wednesday, after occasional positive-territory blips earlier in the day.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 29, 2026
"For a long time, no one knew quite what to make of these oddball little blips of dimming," Bouma said.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2026
Three others crowded into the darkened shack offering advice and helping spot blips on the screen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Put into the same boxing ring to duke it out, the movie’s unintentional silliness easily KO’s its blips of emotional gravity.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
They were all eight or ten feet tall, and full of not just wires and cables and motherboards, but also random blips of light flashing on and off.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Ten-year yields had briefly blipped above 5% last week after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy's strength and tight labor markets might warrant tighter financial conditions.
From Reuters ● Oct. 23, 2023
The space station’s communications with ground controllers blipped out twice for a few minutes on Thursday.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2021
Both Sam and Bucky are among the populace that had been blipped out of existence five years ago and are suddenly without one of their closest friends — Captain America.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2021
Jimmy specifically mentions that Vision is dead, and not just blipped.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2021
We had almost made it back into the neighborhood, when lights flashed and a siren blipped behind us.
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
Take “First Rodeo,” a sleek midtempo track with twangy guitars and blipping synths in which Ballerini extends a metaphor about getting back on the horse further than you’d think possible without breaking it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2024
Five police cars drove by, sirens blipping, and neighbors and friends drove by as well, holding signs of support.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 18, 2020
Erykah Badu’s tart, sassy voice humanized the two-chord vamps generated by her laptop-wielding band; Alt-J drew subtle but clear connections between folky picking and the blipping patterns of electronic dance music.
From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2013
United are "monitoring" the Aalesunds No1, presumably on a black and green radar screen making an irregular blipping noise.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 29, 2010
My monitors are blipping and chirping and two nurses are racing toward me.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
