pip
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: pĭp, IPA(key): /pɪp/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪp
Etymology 1
From Middle English pippe, from Middle Dutch pip, from post-classical Latin pipita, from Latin pītuīta.
Noun
pip (plural pips)
- Any of various respiratory diseases in birds, especially infectious coryza. [from the 15th c.]
- (humorous) Of humans, a disease, malaise or depression.
- D. H. Lawrence, letter to Edward Garnett
- I've got the pip horribly at present.
- 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IV:
- With this deal Uncle Tom's got on with Homer Cream, it would be fatal to risk giving [Mrs Cream] the pip in any way.
- D. H. Lawrence, letter to Edward Garnett
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
Apparently representing a shortened form of pippin, from Middle English pipin, from Old French pepin (“a seed”) (French pépin).
Noun
pip (plural pips)
- (obsolete) a pippin, seed of any kind
- (Britain) a seed inside certain fleshy fruits (compare stone/pit), such as a peach, orange, or apple
- 1995, Brown, John Pairman, Israel and Hellas (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; 231), volume 1, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 134:
- On most of the shores of the ancient Mediterranean, before any historical record, the cultivated grape vine, Vitis vinifera Linn., was grown. Its relationship to the wild vine of Eurasia, Vitis silvestris Gmel., is uncertain. Its pips can mostly be distinguished from those of the wild vine, and have been found in Egypt and Syrian Hama from the fourth millennium BC, at Lachish and Jericho in the early Bronze, at Troy II during the Bronze, in the Peloponnesus from Early Helladic, in Crete from the Early Minoan.
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- (Britain) a seed inside certain fleshy fruits (compare stone/pit), such as a peach, orange, or apple
- (US, colloquial) something or someone excellent, of high quality
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 612:
- She sure is a pip, that one. You need company?
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 612:
- (Britain, dated, WW I, signalese) P in RAF phonetic alphabet
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 3
Origin uncertain, perhaps related to Etymology 2, above.
Noun
pip (plural pips)
- One of the spots or symbols on a playing card, domino, die, etc.
- (military, public service) One of the stars worn on the shoulder of a uniform to denote rank, e.g. of a soldier or a fireman.
- A spot; a speck.
- A spot of light or an inverted V indicative of a return of radar waves reflected from an object; a blip.
- A piece of rhizome with a dormant shoot of the lily of the valley plant, used for propagation
Synonyms
- (symbol on playing card etc): spot
Translations
Verb
pip (third-person singular simple present pips, present participle pipping, simple past and past participle pipped)
- To get the better of; to defeat by a narrow margin
- He led throughout the race but was pipped at the post.
- To hit with a gunshot
- The hunter managed to pip three ducks from his blind.
Etymology 4
Imitative.
Verb
pip (third-person singular simple present pips, present participle pipping, simple past and past participle pipped)
Etymology 5
Imitative.
Noun
pip (plural pips)
Examples | |||
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- One of a series of very short, electronically produced tones, used, for example, to count down the final few seconds before a given time or to indicate that a caller using a payphone needs to make further payment if he is to continue his call.
- 1982 John Banville, The Newton Letter
- I could clearly hear the frequent cataclysms of the upstairs lavatory, and my day began with the pips for the morning news in Charlotte Lawless's kitchen.
- 1982 John Banville, The Newton Letter
Synonyms
- (electronic sound, counting down seconds): stroke
Translations
Etymology 6
Abbreviation of percentage in point.
Noun
pip (plural pips)
- (finance, currency trading) The smallest price increment between two currencies in foreign exchange (forex) trading.
- 2015, Abe Cofnas, “Trading Styles and Strategies”, in The Forex Trading Course: A Self-study Guide to Becoming a Successful Currency Trader, 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, part II (Timing the Trade with Technical Analysis), page 157:
- The set-and-forget trader is playing fundamental direction and is seeking very large moves of 150 to 300 pips. This trader doesn't want to sit and watch the screen but play the longer moves and forces behind forex.
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Related terms
- pip to the post
- pip at the post
- pipsqueak
- give the pip to, give someone the pip
Albanian
Etymology 1
A descriptive term, similar to German piepen and Latin pipīre.
Danish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pip/, [pʰib̥]
Inflection
Noun
pip n
- (dated) nonsense, gibberish, madness
- 2015, William Heinesen, Tårnet ved verdens ende: En poetisk mosaik-roman om den yngste ungdom, Gyldendal A/S →ISBN
- Sådan noget pip!
- 1975, Manfred Spliedt, Sådan en dum knægt
- Sikke noget pip.
- 1975, Aksel Sandemose, Minner fra andre dager
- Jeg var forarget over saadan noget Pip ...
- 2015, William Heinesen, Tårnet ved verdens ende: En poetisk mosaik-roman om den yngste ungdom, Gyldendal A/S →ISBN
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch pip (“disease of poultry, also of people”), from post-classical Latin pipita, from Latin pītuīta (“slime, head cold”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɪp/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: pip
- Rhymes: -ɪp
Noun
pip m (uncountable)
- Pip (any of various respiratory diseases in birds, especially infectious coryza).
- (humorous or colloquial) Of humans, a disease (particularly the common cold or the flu), malaise or depression.
Swedish
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -iːp