nip
Definitions
General English
- verb to go very quickly
Cricket
- noun a quality in the wicket, or in a bowler’s delivery, that makes the ball move briskly off the pitch with an apparent increase in paceCitation ‘Though the spinners did manage to turn the ball, they could not get the necessary nip out of the wicket’ (K. N. Prabhu, WCM March 1984)Citation ‘Afterwards, batting was much easier. Alderman lacked his earlier nip and tended to over-pitch’ (Brearley 1982)
- noun an unintentional glance or snick from the batCitation ‘A stroke, or Nip, over or under his Bat, or upon his Hands … if the Ball be held before it touches the ground it’s out’ (Laws 1744)
- verb to make the ball move sharply off the pitch, usually with some change of directionCitation ‘As soon as Lillee found his length he nipped one back from off to have me LBW’ (Brearley 1982)
- verb to nick the ball unintentionallyCitation ‘If a striker nips a Ball up just before him, he may fall before his Wicket, or pop down his Bat … to save it’ (Laws 1744)
Publishing
- noun the area where two rolls of paper are in contact
- verb to hold a book tightly when binding, so as to press out any air from between the pages
Slang
- noun a Japanese person. (Nippon is the Japanese word for Japan.) ‘Jap’ has been the preferred term among British speakers, but nip has made headway since the mid-1970s. This term is largely pejorative.
- noun a computer microchip
Travel
- noun a single measure of alcohol
