nipping
Americanadjective
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sharp or biting, as cold.
-
sarcastic; caustic.
adjective
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sharp and biting
a nipping wind
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sarcastic; bitter
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nipping
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Claude-maker Anthropic has OpenAI, Google's Gemini and even Grok from xAI nipping at its heels in the market for professional AI.
From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026
Microsoft currently holds the rank of the third-largest U.S. company, but can it maintain its lead with Alphabet nipping at its heels?
From MarketWatch • Nov. 19, 2025
Because Jofra Archer has that angle of nipping back towards the stumps, can he nip one away?
From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025
Some polls now show the biggest of those groups, the Democratic Alliance, nipping at the heels of the party of Mandela for the first time, as local elections approach next year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
In these long summer days, his uncle Finn, Junior Haskell, and Joplin, Missouri, all seemed like a faint memory that was no longer nipping at his heels.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
