snip

[ snip ]
See synonyms for: snipsnips on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),snipped, snip·ping.
  1. to cut with a small, quick stroke, or a succession of such strokes, with scissors or the like.

  2. to remove or cut off (something) by or as by cutting in this manner: to snip a rose.

verb (used without object),snipped, snip·ping.
  1. to cut with small, quick strokes.

noun
  1. the act of snipping, as with scissors.

  2. a small cut made by snipping.

  1. a small piece snipped off.

  2. a small piece, bit, or amount of anything: a snip of food.

  3. Informal. a small or insignificant person.

  4. Informal. a presumptuous or impertinent person.

  5. snips, small, strong hand shears used by sheet metal workers.

  6. British Informal. a bargain.

Origin of snip

1
1550–60; origin uncertain; compare Dutch, Low German snippen to snip, catch, clip

Other words from snip

  • un·snipped, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use snip in a sentence

  • And Somehow Good is simply snipped off, when it might conceivably have proceeded on its way.

    Essays on Modern Novelists | William Lyon Phelps
  • Waddling back to it, he snipped off several little limbs, a single bite for each.

    Watched by Wild Animals | Enos A. Mills

British Dictionary definitions for snip

snip

/ (snɪp) /


verbsnips, snipping or snipped
  1. to cut or clip with a small quick stroke or a succession of small quick strokes, esp with scissors or shears

noun
  1. the act of snipping

  2. the sound of scissors or shears closing

  1. Also called: snipping a small piece of anything, esp one that has been snipped off

  2. a small cut made by snipping

  3. mainly British an informal word for bargain

  4. informal something easily done; cinch

  5. US and Canadian informal a small or insignificant person or thing, esp an irritating or insolent one

interjection
  1. (often reiterated) a representation of the sound of scissors or shears closing

Origin of snip

1
C16: from Low German, Dutch snippen; related to Middle High German snipfen to snap the fingers

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