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)

kippers, present (3rd person singular) kippered, past participle, past kippering present participle

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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Other Word Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have kippered
  perfect
• has kippered
  perfect 3rd person singular
• kippers
  singular 3rd person
• kippering
  participle
• have been kippering
  perfect progressive
• has been kippering
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• is kippering
  progressive 3rd person singular
• am kippering
  progressive 1st person singular
• are kippering
  progressive

Past

• had kippered
  perfect
• was kippering
  progressive singular
• were kippering
  progressive plural
• kippered
  simple
• kippered
  participle
• had been kippering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will kipper
  simple
• will have kippered
  perfect
• will have been kippering
  perfect progressive
• will be kippering
  progressive

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

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

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2023

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

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

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

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

• dry
• preserve
• smoke