kipper
1 Americannoun
-
a fish, especially a herring, that has been cured by splitting, salting, drying, and smoking.
-
this method of curing fish.
-
a male salmon during or after the spawning season.
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
-
a fish, esp a herring, that has been cleaned, salted, and smoked
-
a male salmon during the spawning season
-
archaic an Englishman
verb
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
kippersimple
-
kipperssimple
-
have kipperedperfect
-
has kipperedperfect
-
am kipperingprogressive
-
are kipperingprogressive
-
is kipperingprogressive
-
have been kipperingperfect progressive
-
has been kipperingperfect progressive
Past
-
kipperedsimple
-
had kipperedperfect
-
was kipperingprogressive
-
were kipperingprogressive
-
had been kipperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kipper1
before 1000; Middle English kypre, Old English cypera spawning salmon, apparently derivative of cyperen of copper, i.e., copper-colored
Origin of kipper2
First recorded in 1835–45, kipper is from the Wiradjuri word gibirr “man”
Vocabulary lists containing kipper
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A veritable slap in the face with a wet kipper.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2022
Faced with dilemmas like that, wouldn’t you prefer a fantasy about a smoked kipper?
From Washington Post ● Jul. 23, 2019
In a speech last week to party members during his party leadership campaign, Johnson brandished a kipper fish and pointed to its freezer packaging to ridicule the absurdity of European Union regulation.
From Reuters ● Jul. 23, 2019
Note the custom vest, kipper tie, and high collar in matching fabric.
From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2016
Ron gagged on a large piece of kipper.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
We learned that kippers is a whole herring that has been sliced in half, gutted, salted or pickled, then smoked and was once popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
From Salon ● May 12, 2023
Some lean toward continental fare, including Ye Landmark’s UK-based crisps ‘n’ kippers, Nordiska’s Scandinavian housewares and kitchen goods, and Marina Market’s aisles of imported licorice candy and Northern European beers, cheeses and meats.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2021
She said she had indulged a little, however, buying kippers at the grocery store and was considering buying a printer and a new chair for her desk.
From New York Times ● Sep. 4, 2020
Topics such as "mother's midday meal" - herrings, kippers or a baked potato - and "putting your best face forward" - wearing lipstick, powder and a headscarf, were the norm.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2016
That some people willingly eat kippers and eggs for breakfast is a fact that others may find hard to swallow.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
"If this had happened then, I think we would have been kippered," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
Smoked fish that requires refrigeration, such as lox, nova-style, kippered, or jerky, is considered precarious for those who are pregnant because, like deli meat, it could be contaminated with listeria.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2021
Drawing inspiration from Sephardic culture and Spanish cuisine, I'm making escabeche salmon, my take on kippered salmon.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2011
A schmaltzy piece of kippered salmon with some nice "belly" lox: my idea of breakfast.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 11, 2010
The poor man, in a public prayer, soon after, offered a petition that the distinguished divine might long be "kippered to the Free Church of Scotland."
All the processes of gutting, curing, and kippering go on in grand style.
From Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Holmes, Daniel Turner
She 201 has seen the kippering done, ever since she wore ankle tights.”
From Christine A Fife Fisher Girl by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
“I’ll not let that order slip through my fingers,” she cried, “I’m going to the kippering, and what I canna do, Christine can manage, following my say-so.”
From Christine A Fife Fisher Girl by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
These fish were the last of the season, and were thus undergoing the process of kippering.
From Malcolm by MacDonald, George
Then Norman went away, and Christine put back in its place the kippering suit, and took out her very prettiest selling suit.
From Christine A Fife Fisher Girl by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
