clip

¹ American  

[klip] / klɪp /

verb (used with object)

clipped, clipped, clipt, clipping

1. to cut, or cut off or out, as with shears.

   to clip a rose from a bush.

2. to trim by cutting.

   to clip a hedge.

3. to cut or trim the hair or fleece of; shear.

   to clip a poodle.

4. to pare the edge of (a coin).

5. to cut short; curtail.

   We clipped our visit by a week to return home earlier.

6. to pronounce rapidly, with precise articulation and with omission of certain sounds, as of unstressed vowels.

   an annoying habit of clipping his words.

7. to shorten (a word or phrase) by dropping one or more syllables.

8. Informal. to hit with a quick, sharp blow.

   He clipped him on the jaw with a sudden punch.

9. Slang. to take or get money from by dishonest means; swindle; rook.

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verb (used without object)

clipped, clipped, clipt, clipping

1. to clip or cut something.

2. to cut articles or pictures from a newspaper, magazine, etc.

3. to move swiftly.

   He clipped along the highway on his motorcycle.

4. Archaic. to fly rapidly.

noun

1. the act of clipping.

2. anything clipped off, especially the wool shorn at a single shearing of sheep.

3. the amount of wool shorn in one season.

4. (used with a plural verb) clips, an instrument for clipping; shears.

5. film clip.

6. Informal. clipping.

7. Informal. a quick, sharp blow.

   a clip on the jaw.

8. rate; pace.

   at a rapid clip.

clip ² American  

[klip] / klɪp /

noun

1. a device that grips and holds tightly.

2. a metal or plastic clasp for holding together papers, letters, etc.

3. cartridge clip.

4. an article of jewelry or other decoration clipped onto clothing, shoes, hats, etc.

5. a flange on the upper surface of a horseshoe.

6. Also called lug.  Shipbuilding. a short length of angle iron connecting and maintaining the angle between two members or surfaces.

7. Archaic. an embrace.

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verb (used with or without object)

clipped, clipping

1. to grip tightly; fasten with or as if with a clip.

2. to encircle; encompass.

3. Football. to block by illegally throwing the body across a player's legs from behind.

4. Archaic. to embrace or hug.

clip ¹ British  

/ klɪp /

verb

1. (also intr) to cut, snip, or trim with or as if with scissors or shears, esp in order to shorten or remove a part

2. to punch (a hole) in something, esp a ticket

3. to curtail or cut short

4. to move a short section from (a film, etc)

5. to shorten (a word)

6. (intr) to trot or move rapidly, esp over a long distance

   a horse clipping along the road

7. informal to strike with a sharp, often slanting, blow

8. slang to obtain (money) by deception or cheating

9. slang to murder; execute

10. 1. to restrict someone's freedom

    2. to thwart someone's ambition

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noun

1. the act or process of clipping

2. something clipped off

3. an extract from a film, newspaper, etc

4. informal a sharp, often slanting, blow

5. informal speed

   a rapid clip

6. the total quantity of wool shorn, as in one place, season, etc

7. another word for clipped form

clip ² British  

/ klɪp /

noun

1. any of various small implements used to hold loose articles together or to attach one article to another

2. an article of jewellery that can be clipped onto a dress, hat, etc

3. short for paperclip cartridge clip

4. the pointed flange on a horseshoe that secures it to the front part of the hoof

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verb

1. to hold together tightly, as with a clip

2. archaic to embrace

Other Word Forms

• clippable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of clip¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English clippen, cleppen, from Old Norse klippa “to clip, cut”

Origin of clip²

First recorded before 900; Middle English clippen, cluppen, cleppen “to embrace, grasp, hold,” Old English clyppan “to embrace, clasp, cherish”; cognate with Old Frisian kleppa

Explanation

Use the noun clip to talk about a fastener that holds things together, like a paper clip or a hair clip. A clip keeps loose things attached to each other, but when you clip something, you cut small pieces off of it. Think of when you clip your dog's toenails or clip the dangling ends off the blanket you're knitting. You can also use the verb clip for a figurative kind of cutting, like when you clip two minutes off your marathon time or clip your words — say them quickly and tensely — when you're angry.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clip clipped clipping clipt

"He interviewed so many, many hundreds of people across decades including his famous clip with a young Rory McIlroy and the wash machine!"

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

SLB’s data-center-solutions business continued to grow at a quick clip, driven by rising demand and customer expansion, according to Le Peuch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

U.S. cardholders grew spending at a 11.4% clip.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

The clip showed a conversation between Odysseus and Calypso, a nymph who holds the mythical king on her island for several years.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Roberto sat next to me, helping me clip articles.

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

And Banda struck him out on a fastball that barely clipped the outside corner — and was initially called a ball, before a successful ABS challenge by Twins catcher Victor Caratini.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

Conway played drives through the covers and down the ground, Latham clipped off his pads.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

My daughter is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Clover, and for the past couple of months, she’s had clipped to her collar an A.I. communication device known as the PetPhone.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026

Either way, the onetime roommates and bandmates pioneered a discomfiting broken-doll aesthetic of smudged eyeliner, smeared lipstick and plastic barrettes clipped to hanks of bleached-out hair.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

I clipped Wishbone’s leash to his collar and we set off down the road.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

Right now, her favorite is the Nopal Cactus candle, which she made using a clipping from an employee’s yard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

The horse then bolted, before clipping another carriage and toppling over, footage showed.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

Talarico recently said some of his past comments “missed the mark,” and he accused Paxton of “intentionally clipping my cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption.”

From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026

Clouted, another clipping startup, raised $7 million last month in a round led by early-stage investment firm Slow Ventures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

After he left, I scrambled out of my cage, picked up the newspaper clipping and tucked it inside my notebook.

From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney

The 11th we sailed E. by S. and 3 leagues from shore we had only 5 fathoms water, all the wood along shore being as even as if it had been clipt by gardeners sheers.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07 by Kerr, Robert

Low the ground, Well-nigh by waters clipt, a savage haunt With briar and bramble thick, and 'Thorny Isle' For that cause named.

From Legends of the Saxon Saints by De Vere, Aubrey

At the foot of my garden, and hidden from my window by the clipt box hedge, runs Sanctuary Lane, along which I see the heads of the villagers moving to church on Sunday mornings.

From The Delectable Duchy by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

Probably he would have come to Swedenborg, had not his clipt wings spread for a new flight.

From The Lost Girl by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)

Here and there rises a line of pollard willows or clipt elms, and now and then a church spire.

From Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 4 France and the Netherlands, Part 2 by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)

Related Words

• mow
• prune
• shave
• shear
• snip
• trim