kipper

¹

[kip-er]

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

[kip-er]

noun

Australian Informal.

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

kipper

¹

/ 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

/ ˈkɪpə /

noun

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

kipper

³

/ ˈkɪpə /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of kipper¹

Old English cypera, perhaps from coper _copper ¹ ; referring to its colour

Origin of kipper²

from a native Australian language

Origin of kipper³

C21: from k ( ids ) i ( n ) p ( arents' ) p ( ockets ) e ( roding ) r ( etirement ) ( savings )

Example Sentences

Britain's longest-serving Royal Mail postman has recalled hand-delivering turkeys, kippers and last-minute gifts for Christmas as his record 60 years comes to an end.

Read more on BBC

"Every culture has their own techniques to preserve fish, so we thought to take this kippers idea and turn it into a global gateway of ingredients."

Read more on Salon

That game last year was rugby's equivalent of a slap across the face with a wet kipper.

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A veritable slap in the face with a wet kipper.

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He brandished a smoked kipper, ridiculing the European Union for the regulation requiring such fish to be shipped on ice pillows — a regulation written by the British government.

Read more on Washington Post

Related Words

• dry 
• preserve 
• smoke