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gyp1

or gip

[jip]
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verb (used with or without object), gypped, gyp·ping.
  1. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. to defraud or rob by some sharp practice; swindle; cheat.
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noun
  1. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. a swindle or fraud.
  2. Also gyp·per [jip-er] /ˈdʒɪp ər/, gypster. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. a swindler or cheat.
  3. Also called gypsy. an owner of racehorses who also acts as trainer and jockey.
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Origin of gyp1

1885–90, Americanism; back formation from Gypsy

Usage note

Gyp in the meanings “to swindle” or “a person who swindles” is sometimes perceived as insulting to or by Gypsies, since it stereotypes them as swindlers. However, gyp has apparently never been used as a deliberate ethnic slur, and many people are unaware that it is derived from Gypsy.

gyp2

[jip]
noun British Informal.
  1. a male college servant, as at Cambridge and Durham.
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Origin of gyp2

First recorded in 1740–50; perhaps from Gypsy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gyp

Historical Examples

  • "And Gyp's things muss my room so," cried Tibby, plaintively.

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

  • "Isn't it funny," mused Gyp as she balanced on the footboard of her bed.

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

  • Gyp's tone asked, rather: "What in the world have you found to do?"

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

  • "The poor old man," Jerry said so feelingly that Gyp stared at her.

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

  • She had not laid eyes on Gyp after that one fleeting glimpse on the stairs.

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for gyp

gyp1

gip

slang
verb gyps, gypping, gypped, gips, gipping or gipped
  1. (tr) to swindle, cheat, or defraud
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noun
  1. an act of cheating
  2. a person who gyps
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Word Origin

C18: back formation from Gypsy

gyp2

noun
  1. British and NZ slang severe pain; torturehis arthritis gave him gyp
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Word Origin

C19: probably a contraction of gee up!; see gee 1

gyp3

noun
  1. a college servant at the universities of Cambridge and DurhamCompare scout 1 (def. 5)
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Word Origin

C18: perhaps from Gypsy, or from obsolete gippo a scullion
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 gyp

v.

"to cheat, swindle," 1889, American English, probably derived from the colloquial shortening of Gypsy (cf. gip). Related: Gypped. As a noun, "fraudulent action, a cheat," by 1914.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper