clipper Hear it!

clipper Definition

clip·per (klip′ər)

noun

  1. a person who cuts, trims, etc.
  2. a tool for cutting or trimming a barber's clippers

  3. Etymology: for sense, see cutter

    1. ☆ a sharp-bowed, narrow-beamed sailing ship (c. 1830-54) built for great speed
    2. a modified form of this with less speed and greater cargo capacity
  4. a horse, sled, etc. regarded as very swift
  5. Electronics a circuit designed to limit the amplitude of an output signal to a preset level

Etymology: ME < clippen, clip; senses 3 & 4 infl. (?) by MDu klepper, orig., swift horse < LowG kleppen, to sound like hoofbeats (echoic)

clipper Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • survive: Another delight for your eyes is the world's last surviving tea clipper, Cutty Sark.
  • build: John Willis, the younger, wanted three clippers built on the same lines of another he owned, Tweed.
  • use: You can use ordinary nail clippers to clip the claw, avoiding the blood vessel.

Adjective modifier

  • royal: ROYAL CLIPPER In 1902, the largest, fastest sailing ship the world had ever seen was launched.
  • hedge: Jim was having a good old go at the spring flowering heathers, by using a pair of hedge clippers to do the pruning.
  • electric: The Dutch bought 60,000 cameras and electric hair clippers, and even the Japanese bought Soviet TV sets.
  • famous: The most famous tea clipper of all time was the Cutty Sark built in Britain in 1869.
  • fast: The National Maritime Museum and the 19th C Cutty Sark tall ship, once the fastest tea clipper in the world and much more!
  • old: I was forced to use my old clippers, which these were supposed to replace, to rescue my hair.

Modifies a noun

  • ship: Some credit must be given to them for enabling her to become, by 1922, the only clipper ship left in the world.
  • chip: Clipper chips should be available ( to product vendors ) in June.
  • race: This results in 55.5 million lbs of tea being imported into Britain, and clipper races between American and British vessels begin in earnest.
  • bow: Fully rigged with sails, her engines gave her a speed of 14 knots and her graceful clipper bow concealed a ram.
  • oil: If your horse comes out in bumps after clipping he/she may be allergic to the clipper oil.

Noun used with modifier

  • Yankee: Of the quot a week of into the harbor yankee clipper.
  • nail: You can use ordinary nail clippers to clip the claw, avoiding the blood vessel.
  • tea: The most famous tea clipper of all time was the Cutty Sark built in Britain in 1869.
  • hair: The Dutch bought 60,000 cameras and electric hair clippers, and even the Japanese bought Soviet TV sets.
  • wool: Smyrna was competed in Oct 1876 and launched as a wool clipper for the Australian trading market.
  • sailing: Here were built iron sailing clippers and huge complex steam engines were fitted into battleships.