Nip /(?)/

1. A sip or small draught; esp., a draught of intoxicating liquor; a dram.

imp. & p. p. Nipped; p. pr. & vb. n. Nipping

1. To catch and inclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.

   May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress.

2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.

   The small shoots . . . must be nipped off.

3. Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
4. To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt.

   And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.

1. A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, in the northern seas, the nip of masses of ice.
2. A pinch with the nails or teeth.
3. A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
4. A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
5. A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
6. A short turn in a rope. (Naut.)