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• pip
  pip

  noun

  one of the spots on dice, playing cards, or dominoes.
• Pip
  Pip

  noun

  a male given name, form of Philip.

pip

¹ American  

[pip] / pɪp /

noun

1. one of the spots on dice, playing cards, or dominoes.

   You need to match the two pips on this domino with two pips on one of your dominoes.

2. each of the small segments into which the surface of a pineapple is divided.

   Cut off the top of the pineapple, slicing through the first row of pips.

3. Informal. metal insigne of rank on the shoulders of commissioned officers.

   the museum's collection of German pips and buttons.

4. Horticulture.

   1. an individual rootstock of a plant, especially of the lily of the valley.

      This low-growing perennial forms dense clumps from its slender pips.

   2. a portion of the rootstock or root of several other plants.

      The peony's pips are those budlike growths at the top of the tuber.

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pip ² American  

[pip] / pɪp /

noun

1. Veterinary Pathology: Older Use. a contagious disease of birds, especially poultry, characterized by the secretion of a thick mucus in the mouth and throat.

   The last thing they wanted to find in the henhouse was a chicken with pip.

2. Facetious. Usually the pip any minor or unspecified ailment in a person.

   Oh, no, not that annoying neighbor—he gives me the pip.

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pip ³ American  

[pip] / pɪp /

noun

1. a small seed, especially of a fleshy fruit, as an apple or orange.

   Does the juicer remove the pips or just grind them up?

2. Also called pipperoo.  Informal. someone or something wonderful.

   Last night's party was a pip.

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pip ⁴ American  

[pip] / pɪp /

verb (used without object)

pipped, pipping

1. to peep or chirp.

   Listen to those chicks pip!

2. (of a hatching bird) to break out from the shell.

   How long before the eaglets start pipping?

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verb (used with object)

pipped, pipping

1. to crack or chip a hole through (the shell), as a hatching bird.

   All but one of the new brood has pipped through their shells.

pip ⁵ American  

[pip] / pɪp /

noun

Electronics.

1. blip.

   observing the radar screen for unusual pips.

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pip ⁶ American  

[pip] / pɪp /

verb (used with object)

British Slang.

pipped, pipping

1. to blackball.

   Are you telling me I've been pipped from the entire music industry?

2. to defeat (an opponent).

   No one expected our team to pip those hotshots from Birmingham.

3. to shoot, especially to wound or kill by a gunshot.

   Get that pistol out of here before someone gets pipped.

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Pip ⁷ American  

[pip] / pɪp /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Philip.

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pip ¹ British  

/ pɪp /

noun

1. a short high-pitched sound, a sequence of which can act as a time signal, esp on radio

2. a radar blip

3. 1. a spot or single device, such as a spade, diamond, heart, or club on a playing card

   2. any of the spots on dice or dominoes

4. Also called: star.  informal the emblem worn on the shoulder by junior officers in the British Army, indicating their rank

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verb

1. 1. (intr) to chirp; peep

   2. to pierce (the shell of its egg) while hatching

2. (intr) to make a short high-pitched sound

pip ² British  

/ pɪp /

noun

1. a contagious disease of poultry characterized by the secretion of thick mucus in the mouth and throat

2. facetious a minor human ailment

3. slang a bad temper or depression (esp in the phrase give ( someone ) the pip )

4. informal to sulk

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verb

1. slang to cause to be annoyed or depressed

pip ³ British  

/ pɪp /

noun

1. the seed of a fleshy fruit, such as an apple or pear

2. any of the segments marking the surface of a pineapple

3. a rootstock or flower of the lily of the valley or certain other plants

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pip ⁴ British  

/ pɪp /

verb

1. to wound or kill, esp with a gun

2. to defeat (a person), esp when his success seems certain (often in the phrase pip at the post )

3. to blackball or ostracize

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Etymology

Origin of pip¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; earlier peep; origin uncertain

Origin of pip²

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English pippe, from Middle Dutch, from unattested Vulgar Latin pipita, for Latin pītuīta “phlegm, pip”

Origin of pip³

First recorded in 1590–1600; 1910–15 pip ³ for def. 2; short for pippin

Origin of pip⁴

First recorded in 1650–60; variant of peep ²

Origin of pip⁵

First recorded in 1940–45; imitative

Origin of pip⁶

First recorded in 1875–80; perhaps special use of pip ¹, in metaphorical sense of a small ball

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pip Pip pipped pipping

They succeeded occasionally—Liverpool managed to pip him to a couple of championships—but Guardiola’s City took the title in six of the past eight years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

On Friday, observers spotted what appeared to be a pip — or breach in the eggshell.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026

They beat the Tennessee Titans 41-7 to pip the Houston Texans to the AFC South top spot.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026

His seventh-place finish, with Webber in eighth, allowed Vettel to pip both of them.

From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025

His foreman was a man defeated by his own pessimistic views, and his news was mostly a series of misfortunes: the strawberries froze, the chickens caught the pip, the grapes rotted.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

As of April, there were about four million claimants entitled to Pip in England and Wales.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

The cost of Pip is expected to rise to more than £41bn by 2030, up from £15bn in 2020.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Pip includes a daily living component and a mobility component.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Pip is paid to 3.7 million people with a long-term physical or mental health condition, external in England and Wales.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

“You have an apprentice,” pursued the stranger, “commonly known as Pip? Is he here?”

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli pipped Red Bull's Max Verstappen to pole position in a gripping qualifying session at the Monaco Grand Prix.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

Until this year, the tightest margin of victory belonged to Al Unser, Jr., who pipped Scott Goodyear to the line by 0.043 seconds in 1992.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

Last week, he travelled from Italy to see Coleraine Football Club play their final league game of the season as they pipped Glentoran to second place and a guaranteed place in European competition.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

The exception came when Manchester City pipped the Gunners to the title two years ago.

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026

Ye ain't fitten fur dis yere soldierin' business; jes' pipped de shell.

From The Storm Centre by Murfree, Mary Noailles

Johnson had never claimed a podium spot in Cortina before Sunday but outshone the rest of the field from sixth on the starting list, pipping Germany's rising star Emma Aicher by just 0.04sec.

From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026

Their performances in pipping a gaggle of victorious Ryder Cup team-mates show the European game is in rude health.

From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2025

Spaniard Alcaraz had the edge over Sinner over the course of the season, winning four of their six match-ups, which all decided top-level tournaments, and pipping his rival to the year-end world number one spot.

From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025

Meanwhile, injury-hit Spurs are in the search of defensive reinforcements despite pipping Wolves to the loan signing of Lens defender Kevin Danso on Sunday.

From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2025

I remember her saying to me once, in her school-girl slang, when she was seventeen or so, 'Well, I'd like to think I went on, mother; I think it's simply rotten pipping out.

From Potterism A Tragi-Farcical Tract by Macaulay, Rose, Dame

Related Words

• kernel
• pit
• seed