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definitions

gyp

1

or gip

[jip]
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gyp ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with or without object), gypped, gyp·ping.

Informal: Sometimes Offensive. to defraud or rob by some sharp practice; swindle; cheat.

noun

Informal: Sometimes Offensive. a swindle or fraud.
Also gyp·per [jip-er] /ˈdʒɪp ər/, gypster. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. a swindler or cheat.
Also called gypsy. an owner of racehorses who also acts as trainer and jockey.

Origin of gyp

1
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.

gyp

2
[jip]

noun British Informal.

a male college servant, as at Cambridge and Durham.

Origin of gyp

2
First recorded in 1740–50; perhaps from Gypsy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gyp

trick, fleece, rook, scam, dupe, cheat, bilk, gull, hoodwink, flimflam, stick, bamboozle, deceive, hustle, defraud, swindle, gip

Examples from the Web for gyp

Historical Examples of gyp

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

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

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

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

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

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

  • Gyp and Tibby went upstairs with her; Graham disappeared with Pepperpot.

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

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

    Highacres

    Jane Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for gyp

gyp

1

gip

slang

verb gyps, gypping, gypped, gips, gipping or gipped

(tr) to swindle, cheat, or defraud

noun

an act of cheating
a person who gyps

Word Origin for gyp

C18: back formation from Gypsy

gyp

2

noun

British and NZ slang severe pain; torturehis arthritis gave him gyp

Word Origin for gyp

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

gyp

3

noun

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

Word Origin for gyp

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper