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yips

American  
[yips] / yɪps /

plural noun

Sports.

  1. the sudden and unexplained loss of a motor skill used in a sport, as with a smooth golf swing reduced to a stuttering one, experienced by athletes who had previously mastered the required movements.

yips British  
/ jɪps /

plural noun

  1. informal (in sport, originally esp golf) nervous twitching or tension that destroys concentration and spoils performance

"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

Etymology

Origin of yips

First recorded in 1960–65; origin obscure

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.