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.

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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.

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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

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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

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kipper ³ British  

/ ˈkɪpə /

noun

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

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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

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

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2021

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

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

I haven't been yet done up like a kipper, have I?

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2017

He began to tear again at the half-eaten kipper.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

• dry
• preserve
• smoke