nipper

[nip-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nipper ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that nips.

Usually nippers. a device for nipping, as pincers or forceps.

one of the two large claws of a crustacean.

Metalworking. dog(def 13).

nippers, Older Slang. handcuffs.

Informal.

a small boy.
Chiefly British.a costermonger's helper or assistant.

Nautical. a short rope for seizing an anchor cable to a messenger from a capstan.

Origin of nipper

First recorded in 1525–35; nip¹ + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for nipper

lad, boy, youngster, child, biter

Examples from the Web for nipper

Historical Examples of nipper

I learnt to swim when I was a little bit of a nipper and went with the boys at school.
Jack at Sea
George Manville Fenn
"Blessed if I ever see such a nipper," he said, over and over again.
Harding's luck
E. [Edith] Nesbit
Why, when I was a nipper every morning of my life I had a cold bath, winter and summer.
Dubliners
James Joyce
Mr. Nipper, the boatswain, sir, the last shot has cut him in two.
Thrilling Narratives of Mutiny, Murder and Piracy
Anonymous
Rest easy a spell, Nipper, and I'll rest too, and listen how he does that.
Pippin; A Wandering Flame
Laura E. Richards

British Dictionary definitions for nipper

nipper

noun

a person or thing that nips

the large pincer-like claw of a lobster, crab, or similar crustacean

informal a small child

Australian a type of small prawn used as bait

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nipper

"small boy," 1859, originally (1530s) a pickpocket who "pinched" other people's property; see nip (v.).