kipper

¹ American  

[kip-er] / ˈkɪp ər /

noun

1. a fish, especially a herring, that has been cured by splitting, salting, drying, and smoking.

2. this method of curing fish.

3. a male salmon during or after the spawning season.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to cure (herring, salmon, etc.) by splitting, salting, drying and smoking.

kipper ² American  

[kip-er] / ˈkɪp ər /

noun

Australian Informal.

1. a young Aboriginal male, usually 14 to 16 years old, who has recently undergone his tribal initiation rite.

---

kipper ¹ British  

/ ˈkɪpə /

noun

1. a fish, esp a herring, that has been cleaned, salted, and smoked

2. a male salmon during the spawning season

3. archaic an Englishman

---

verb

1. (tr) to cure (a fish, esp a herring) by salting and smoking

kipper ² British  

/ ˈkɪpə /

noun

1. a native Australian youth who has completed an initiation rite

---

kipper ³ British  

/ ˈkɪpə /

noun

1. informal an adult who cannot afford to move away from his or her parents' home

---

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”

Example Sentences

A veritable slap in the face with a wet kipper.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2022

He’s holding a kipper; he’s holding a potted plant.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2021

My Dundonian mother is pretty competitive when it comes to our traditional Christmas games – no one flips a kipper further or faster.

From The Guardian • Dec. 18, 2020

This kipper, he told his audience, came from a kipper smoker on the Isle of Man — an angry kipper smoker.

From Washington Post • Jul. 23, 2019

Ron gagged on a large piece of kipper.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• dry
• preserve
• smoke