nipper

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English nip Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English nipper From nip + -er.

1. One who, or that which, nips.

   “Watt saw the little movements of the stuff, the little bulgings and crumplings, and the sudden indrawings, where it was nipped, between forefinger and thumb probably, for those are the nippers.”

2. Any of various devices (as pincers) for nipping.
3. A child.

   “Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh?”

   “No, this is not a creche: nippers should not be running around, fighting under the pool table or generally creating havoc (this applies to dogs, too).”

4. A child aged from 5 to 13 in the Australian surf life-saving clubs.

   “2003 Some Like It Hot: The Beach As a Cultural Dimension SLSA has become a multi-million dollar enterprise comprising 262 clubs located around the Australian coastline, with 100000 members, which included thousands of juniors or 'nippers', as they were more commonly known.”

   “It is the first day of training for a group of ten 'little nippers' (novice surf life-savers). An assortment of children expectantly hover in the clubhouse.”

5. A boy working as a navvies' assistant.
6. A mosquito.
7. One of four foreteeth in a horse.
8. A satirist.

   “[…] ready backbiters, sore nippers, and spiteful reporters privily of good men.”

9. A pickpocket; a young or petty thief.
10. A fish, the cunner.
11. A European crab (Polybius henslowii).
12. The claws of a crab or lobster.
13. A young bluefish.
14. A machine used by a ticket inspector to stamp passengers' tickets.

    “The railway ticket nipper has the identification number of the conductor on it […]”

15. One of a pair of automatically locking handcuffs.
16. One of the gloves or mittens worn by fishermen to protect their hands from cold and abrasion.

    “Suddenly the line flashed through his hand, stinging even through the "nippers," the woolen circlets supposed to protect it.”

    “Today, there are new synthetic materials to protect the hands, but until recently, fishermen wore nippers—thick rubber gloves with cotton lining.”

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree English nip Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English nipper From nip + -er.

1. To seize (two ropes) together.