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To seize and pinch or bite: The fish nipped the wader's toe.
(verb-transitive)
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To remove or sever by pinching or snipping: nipped off the plant leaf.
(verb-transitive)
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To bite or sting with the cold; chill.
(verb-transitive)
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To check or cut off the growth or development of: a conspiracy that was nipped in the bud by the police. See Synonyms at blast.
(verb-transitive)
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Slang To snatch up hastily.
(verb-transitive)
American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.