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

The new clip concludes by showing Thor’s reunion with Rogers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

The company expects content expenses to increase 10% for the full year, although revenue is anticipated to grow more quickly, at a 13% to 14% clip.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026

It seems a long time ago now, but go back to the day that Liverpool sealed the Premier League title under Arne Slot in 2025 and there is a lovely clip of Alexis Mac Allister.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Paddick, a lawyer who moved her family from London to bucolic Hampshire nearly two years ago, sent the clip to her neighbors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Barb helps me clip the last strap into place.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

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

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

These movements froze Bayern's full-back and Doue clipped a pass in behind for his team-mate to run onto before he cut inside and scored.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

Clipper, the stray cat with the clipped tail and patch of missing fur, was sitting on his lap.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

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

He hit 30 off 20 balls before clipping Foulkes to a tumbling Daryl Mitchell at mid-on so Stokes will spend his final day watching his team-mates from the balcony.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 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

Cari was clipping pictures from a catalog, and Beto was reading a thick book.

From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez

The Gate off its Hinges; the Stone Balls of the Pillars overthrowne, the great Bell stolen, the clipt Junipers grubbed up, the Sun-diall broken!

From Mary Powell & Deborah's Diary by Manning, Anne

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

In this style laurel and box-hedges were clipt, and 210marble statues placed against them, 'to break the uniformity of the dark green with pleasant silhouettes.

From The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times by Biese, Alfred

"Bessie, you're reet clipt and heeled for sure," responded her companion.

From A Son of Hagar A Romance of Our Time by Caine, Hall, Sir

In some it is more, in others it in less worn, clipt, and otherwise degenerated from that standard.

From An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Garnier, Germain

Related Words

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