The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
nip
(verb) give a small sharp bite to; “The Queen’s corgis always nip at her staff’s ankles”
nip, nip off, clip, snip, snip off
(verb) sever or remove by pinching or snipping; “nip off the flowers”
pinch, squeeze, twinge, tweet, nip, twitch
(verb) squeeze tightly between the fingers; “He pinched her behind”; “She squeezed the bottle”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
nipped
simple past tense and past participle of nip
• dip pen
Source: Wiktionary
Nip, n. Etym: [LG. & D. nippen to sip; akin to Dan. nippe, G. nippen.]
Definition: A sip or small draught; esp., a draught of intoxicating liquor; a dram.
Nip, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nipped, less properly Nipt; p. pr. & vb. n. Nipping.] Etym: [OE. nipen; cf. D. niipen to pinch, also knippen to nip, clip, pinch, snap, knijpen to pinch, LG. knipen, G. kneipen, kneifen, to pinch, cut off, nip, Lith. knebti.]
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. Tennyson.
2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip. The small shoots ... must be nipped off. Mortimer.
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. Spenser. To nip in the bud, to cut off at the verycommencement of growth; to kill in the incipient stage.
Nip, n.
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. Latimer.
6. (Naut.)
Definition: A short turn in a rope. Nip and tuck, a phrase signifying equality in a contest. [Low, U.S.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
25 December 2024
(adjective) having or exhibiting a single clearly defined meaning; “As a horror, apartheid...is absolutely unambiguous”- Mario Vargas Llosa
The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.