nipper meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

nipper

noun

/ˈnɪpə(ɹ)/

Etymology From nip + -er.

16 senses

One who, or that which, nips.

Watt saw the little movements of the stuff, the little bulgings and crumplings, and the sudden indrawings, where it was nipped, between forefinger and thumb probably, for those are the nippers.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:

Plural normally Any of various devices (as pincers) for nipping.

UK, Informal A child.

Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh?1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 1, page 55:
No, this is not a creche: nippers should not be running around, fighting under the pool table or generally creating havoc (this applies to dogs, too).2018 June 6, Tony Naylor, “The new rules of pub etiquette: don't flirt with bar staff or steal the glasses”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Australia A child aged from 5 to 13 in the Australian surf life-saving clubs.

SLSA has become a multi-million dollar enterprise comprising 262 clubs located around the Australian coastline, with 100000 members, which included thousands of juniors or ‘nippers’, as they were more commonly known.2003, Some Like It Hot: The Beach As a Cultural Dimension:
It is the first day of training for a group of ten ‘little nippers’ (novice surf life-savers). An assortment of children expectantly hover in the clubhouse.2008, Tania Cassidy, Robyn L. Jones, Paul Potrac, Understanding Sports Coaching: The Social, Cultural and Pedagogical Foundations of Coaching Practice:

4 more examples

Every club around Australia offers a Nippers programme. Nippers is open to children from the age of 5 through to 13 years old […]2009, Didgeridoos and Didgeridon'ts: A Brit 's Guide to Moving Your Life Down Under:
The Nippers program, for children aged five to thirteen, promotes water safety skills and confidence in a safe beach environment2011 October 6, “Nipper numbers exceed 60,000”, in Australian for life, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2012:
Of our movement’s 153,000 members, over 58,500 are nippers (5-13 years). This equates to nearly 40% of our total membership and shows just how significant the junior movement is within surf lifesaving.2013 September 5, Eve Jeffery, “Nippers season begins on the north coast”, in Echonetdaily:
Within weeks across Australia, weekends at beaches will soon be dominated by junior lifesavers – known as “nippers” – swimming and board-riding along thousands of kilometres of coastline.2025 September 6, Ben Doherty, “‘Every surfer feeling this’: tight-knit community mourns fatal shark attack on Sydney’s northern beaches”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Historical A boy working as a navvies' assistant.

Archaic One of four foreteeth in a horse.

Obsolete A satirist.

[…] ready backbiters, sore nippers, and spiteful reporters privily of good men.a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, edited by Margaret Ascham, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […] John Daye, […], published 1570, →OCLC:

Obsolete, Slang A pickpocket; a young or petty thief.

A fish, the cunner.

Archaic A European crab (Polybius henslowii).

The claws of a crab or lobster.

A young bluefish.

Dated A machine used by a ticket inspector to stamp passengers' tickets.

The railway ticket nipper has the identification number of the conductor on it […]1908, Transport World, volume 24, page 319:

One of a pair of automatically locking handcuffs.

Historical One of the gloves or mittens worn by fishermen to protect their hands from cold and abrasion.

Suddenly the line flashed through his hand, stinging even through the "nippers," the woolen circlets supposed to protect it.1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:
Today, there are new synthetic materials to protect the hands, but until recently, fishermen wore nippers—thick rubber gloves with cotton lining.1997, Mark Kurlansky, Cod, page 112:

verb

Etymology From nip + -er.

Nautical, Transport To seize (two ropes) together.