clipper
UK /ˈklɪp.ə/ · US /ˈklɪp.ɚ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms clippers clippering clippered
- noun Anything or anyone that clips.
- noun (chiefly in the plural) A tool used for clipping something, such as hair, coins, or fingernails.
- noun (nautical) Any of several forms of very fast sailing ships having a long, low hull and a sharply raked stem.
- noun (informal) An Alberta clipper.
- noun (entomology) An Asian butterfly of species Parthenos sylvia, family Nymphalidae.
- noun (electronics) A circuit which prevents the amplitude of a wave from exceeding a set value.
- noun (historical) A person who mutilates coins by fraudulently paring the edges.
- noun (slang) A confidence trickster; a conman.
- verb (transitive) To cut or style (the hair) using clippers.
- proper noun A surname from German.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Whatcom County, Washington, United States.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English clipper, equivalent to clip (“cut, shorten”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). The type of sailing ship is probably also from clip, in the sense of “move or run rapidly”. Perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch klepper (“swift horse”), from kleppen (“to clap”), which is onomatopoeic.
Americanized spelling of German Klipper.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “clipper”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details