Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for clipped on Thesaurus.com characterized by quick, terse, and clear enunciation. Show More
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. Show More
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. Show More
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. Show More
Origin of clip 1 1150–1200; Middle English clippen < Old Norse klippa to clip, cut
Related forms clip·pa·ble , adjective 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. Show More
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. Show More
Origin of clip 2 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. 2018
Related Words for clipped 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 clipped Contemporary Examples of clipped Denton, who speaks in the clipped cadence of the Oxford-educated Brit he is, has built quite a castle.
Bergdahl dialed out, leaned into the desk, and spoke to his contacts in code names and a clipped military shorthand.
The cops had heard that he clipped people at everything, from golf to throwing quarters at a crack in the floor.
But the people he clipped were mostly members of his own profession.
But “Studies show…” items can be clipped and pasted by… By people like me.
Historical Examples of clipped And the clipped privet bush by the trellis and the may tree by the gate.
The "thanks" clipped like a steel trap, and the business was completed.
Only the point of it stuck up; the rest was clipped as clean as a rat-terrier's.
Dilly rose, and, as some one afterwards said, "clipped it right up to him."
It ranged high, moreover, and only clipped away a bit of the roof.
British Dictionary definitions for clipped (of speech or voice) abrupt and distinct Show More
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 distance a 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 Show More
the act or process of clipping something clipped off an extract from a film, newspaper, etc informal a sharp, often slanting, blow informal speed a rapid clip Australian and NZ the total quantity of wool shorn, as in one place, season, etc another word for clipped form Show More
Derived Forms clippable , adjective Word Origin for clip C12: from Old Norse klippa to cut; related to Low German klippen
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 Show More
verb clips , clipping or clipped (tr) to hold together tightly, as with a clip archaic , or dialect to embrace Show More
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 clipped 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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
A fastener used in surgery to hold skin or other tissue in position or to control hemorrhage. Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
