clip

[klip]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clip ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), clipped, clipped or clipt, clip·ping.

to cut, or cut off or out, as with shears: to clip a rose from a bush.

to trim by cutting: to clip a hedge.

to cut or trim the hair or fleece of; shear: to clip a poodle.

to pare the edge of (a coin).Compare sweat(def 22).

to cut short; curtail: We clipped our visit by a week to return home earlier.

to pronounce rapidly, with precise articulation and with omission of certain sounds, as of unstressed vowels: an annoying habit of clipping his words.

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

Informal. to hit with a quick, sharp blow: He clipped him on the jaw with a sudden punch.

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

verb (used without object), clipped, clipped or clipt, clip·ping.

to clip or cut something.

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

to move swiftly: He clipped along the highway on his motorcycle.

Archaic. to fly rapidly.

noun

the act of clipping.

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

the amount of wool shorn in one season.

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

film clip.

Informal. clipping(def 2).

Informal. a quick, sharp blow: a clip on the jaw.

rate; pace: at a rapid clip.

Origin of clip

1150–1200; Middle English clippen < Old Norse klippa to clip, cut

Related formsclip·pa·ble, adjective

clip

[klip]

noun

a device that grips and holds tightly.

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

cartridge clip.

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

a flange on the upper surface of a horseshoe.

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

Archaic. an embrace.

verb (used with or without object), clipped, clip·ping.

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

to encircle; encompass.

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

Archaic. to embrace or hug.

Origin of clip

before 900; Middle English clippen, Old English clyppan to embrace, surround; cognate with Old Frisian kleppa

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for clip

trim, shave, prune, mow, snip, shear, knock, smack, whack, lower, cut, truncate, shorten, reduce, pare, crop, dock, decrease, slash, bob

Examples from the Web for clip

Contemporary Examples of clip

In this clip, a teenage Minaj gets heated and throws a phone in a play rehearsal during her tenure at LaGuardia High School.
Nicki Minaj: High School Actress
Alex Chancey, The Daily Beast Video
December 30, 2014
Check out a clip from this exclusive interview with SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace at the 2014 Savannah Film Festival.
Who Is Joe Manganiello? Sofia Vergara’s Fiancé on the Value of Hard Work
The Daily Beast Video
December 29, 2014
The clip received heaps of Internet criticism after it went viral, and has since been pulled down from state channels.
Hitler is Huge in Thailand: Chicken Joints, T-Shirts, and A Govt.-Issued Propaganda Video
Marlow Stern
December 10, 2014
In the clip, Julie claims she lost her doctor and her premiums became unaffordable as a result of Obamacare.
The Strangest, Cheesiest, Most Brazenly False Political Ads of 2014
Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video
November 3, 2014
But like the phoenix, he has risen in the form of a 2:11, horribly produced YouTube clip.
Cliven Bundy’s Brokeback Mountain Moment
Olivia Nuzzi
October 19, 2014

Historical Examples of clip

If I should be caught and brought back, they'd clip my wings and brand me for life.
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini
All the mathematics 56 she needs is enough to count her sheep and figure her clip.
The Flockmaster of Poison Creek
George W. Ogden
He felt the clip board being pushed into his hand, then glanced down.
Decision
Frank M. Robinson
When I hooked him he started out to sea at a clip that smoked the line off my reel.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
It's been comin' his way ever since he was big enough to clip a coupon.
Shorty McCabe
Sewell Ford

British Dictionary definitions for clip

clip

verb clips, clipping or clipped (mainly tr)

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

British to punch (a hole) in something, esp a ticket

to curtail or cut short

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

to shorten (a word)

(intr) to trot or move rapidly, esp over a long distancea horse clipping along the road

informal to strike with a sharp, often slanting, blow

slang to obtain (money) by deception or cheating

US slang to murder; execute

clip someone's wings

to restrict someone's freedom
to thwart someone's ambition

noun

the act or process of clipping

something clipped off

an extract from a film, newspaper, etc

informal a sharp, often slanting, blow

informal speeda rapid clip

Australian and NZ the total quantity of wool shorn, as in one place, season, etc

another word for clipped form

Derived Formsclippable, adjective

Word Origin for clip

C12: from Old Norse klippa to cut; related to Low German klippen

clip

noun

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

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

short for paperclip, cartridge clip

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

verb clips, clipping or clipped (tr)

to hold together tightly, as with a clip

archaic, or dialect to embrace

Word Origin for clip

Old English clyppan to embrace; related to Old Frisian kleppa, Lithuanian glebiu

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

Word Origin and History for clip

v.1

"to cut or sever with a sharp instrument," c.1200, from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse klippa, Swedish klippa, Danish klippe "clip, shear, cut") probably echoic. Related: Clipped; clipping.

Meaning "to pronounce short" is from 1520s. The verb has a long association with shady activities, originally especially in reference to cutting or shaving metal from coins (c.1400), but later extended to swindles from the sense "to shear sheep," hence clip-joint "place that overcharges outrageously" (1933, American English, a term from Prohibition). To clip (someone's) wings figuratively (1590s) is from the method of preventing a captive bird from flying.

v.2

"fasten, hold together by pressure," also (mostly archaic) "to embrace," from Old English clyppan "to embrace, clasp; surround; prize, honor, cherish;" related to Old Frisian kleppa "to embrace, love," Old High German klaftra, German klafter "fathom" (on notion of outstretched arms). Also cf. Lithuanian glebys "armful," globiu "to embrace, support." Meaning "to fasten, bind" is early 14c. Meaning "to fasten with clips" is from 1902. Related: Clipped; clipping. Original sense of the verb is preserved in U.S. football clipping penalty.

n.1

"something for attaching or holding," mid-14c., probably from clip (v.2). Meaning "receptacle containing several cartridges for a repeating firearm" is from 1901. Meaning "piece of jewelry fastened by a clip" is from 1937. This is also the source of paper clip (1854). Old English had clypp "an embrace."

n.2

mid-15c., "shears," from clip (v.1). Meaning "act of clipping" is from 1825, originally of sheep-shearing, later of haircuts. Meaning "rate of speed" is 1867 (cf. clipper). Meaning "an extract from a movie" is from 1958.

clip in Medicine

clip

[klĭp]

n.

A fastener used in surgery to hold skin or other tissue in position or to control hemorrhage.