pip

1 of 6

noun (1)

1
a
: a disorder of a bird marked by formation of a scale or crust on the tongue
b
: the scale or crust of this disorder
2
a
: any of various human ailments
especially : a slight nonspecific disorder
b
chiefly British : a feeling of irritation or annoyance

pip

2 of 6

verb (1)

pipped; pipping

intransitive verb

1
2
: to break through the shell of the egg
the chick pipped

transitive verb

: to break open (the shell of an egg) in hatching

pip

3 of 6

noun (2)

1
a
: one of the dots used on dice and dominoes to indicate numerical value
2
3
: an individual rootstock of the lily of the valley
4
: a diamond-shaped insignia of rank worn by a second lieutenant, lieutenant, or captain in the British army

pip

4 of 6

noun (3)

1
: a small fruit seed
especially : one of a several-seeded fleshy fruit
2
: one extraordinary of its kind

pip

5 of 6

verb (2)

pipped; pipping

transitive verb

British
: to beat by a narrow margin

pip

6 of 6

noun (4)

chiefly British
: a short high-pitched tone

Examples of pip in a Sentence

Noun (1) listening to all that chat show blather gives me the pip Verb (1) baby birds pipping loudly in their nest Noun (2) a black horse with white pips Noun (3) that new sports car is a real pip
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Some wine jars dating back 5,000 years ago containing pips and residues have also been discovered in Egypt. Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2024 Like shields, your primary weapons are enhanced when five pips of the weapon gauge are filled. PCMAG, 14 Aug. 2024 Le Bourget, Paris CNN — Aleksandra Mirosław was stood poised at the base of a 15-meter climbing wall, waiting for three pips of a buzzer to signal the start of her race. George Ramsay, CNN, 7 Aug. 2024 Incredible between the pips LaFontaine’s 53 saves in the series-clinching overtime win were the most by a Mavericks goaltender this season. Zach Welch, Kansas City Star, 13 May 2024 One of the basic ones was a computer-vision model that could detect the dominoes that were on the table, tell you their orientation, and then tell you how many pips were on each domino: one, five, six, or whatever. IEEE Spectrum, 17 Feb. 2022 Love, your resident pip with pizzazz. Town & Country, 2 Mar. 2023 Our heroes are the usually unnamed and unsung crew members with but a single lone pip on their collars who show up when senior officers have delegated out their tasks and moved on to the next interesting thing. Kate Cox, Ars Technica, 5 Aug. 2020
Verb
Rodri arrived in England at a Manchester City side who’d just pipped Liverpool to the Premier League title and won a domestic treble. Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024 Since 2007, Italy has been the world’s top producer each year apart from 2011, 2014 and 2023, when it was pipped by France, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 20 Sep. 2024 Yet when the deciding season-ending matches were played, Rangers lost twice and were eventually pipped to the championship by arch-rivals Glasgow Celtic due to an inferior goal difference. Asif Burhan, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2024 Grinham pipped teammate Phoebe Paterson Pine to the bronze medal after both Brits had narrowly lost their respective semifinals, while Turkey’s Öznur Cüre Girdi won the gold medal, defeating Iran’s Fatemeh Hemmati in the final. Issy Ronald, CNN, 1 Sep. 2024 Tottenham Hotspur, which Villa pipped to fourth last season, will surely be expecting significant improvements on last season’s transition under new manager Ange Postecoglou. Matias Grez, CNN, 16 Aug. 2024 The cutlet course was sumptuous, pipped only by the Cornish bitter chocolate tart with a scoop of peanut ice cream for us. Julia O'Driscoll, The Week Uk, theweek, 25 July 2024 Coldplay, who announced new album Moon Music last week, are headlining Glastonbury for the fifth time, the all-time record, pipping the Cure, whose 2019 headline set was their fourth time atop the bill. Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 27 June 2024 City eventually pipped its rivals to the title, with Liverpool two points behind in second and Chelsea another two points behind in third. Ben Church, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pip.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English pippe, from Middle Dutch (akin to Old High German pfiffīz), from Vulgar Latin *pipita, alteration of Latin pituita phlegm, pip; perhaps akin to Greek pitys pine — more at pine

Verb (1)

imitative

Noun (2)

origin unknown

Noun (3)

short for pippin

Verb (2)

probably from pip to blackball, from pip entry 3 or pip entry 4

Noun (4)

imitative

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

1598, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (3)

1797, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1880, in the meaning defined above

Noun (4)

1907, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pip was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near pip

Cite this Entry

“Pip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pip. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

pip

1 of 3 verb
pipped; pipping
1
: to break through the shell of the egg in hatching
2
: to be broken by a pipping bird
eggs starting to pip

pip

2 of 3 noun
1
: a dot or spot (as on dice or playing cards) that indicates numerical value
2
: blip

pip

3 of 3 noun
1
: a small fruit seed
apple pips
2
: something very good of its kind
Etymology

Verb

imitative word

Noun

origin unknown

Noun

a shortened form of pippin "a kind of apple"

Medical Definition

pip

noun
: the formation of a scale or crust on the tip and dorsal surface of the tongue of a bird often associated with respiratory diseases
also : the scale or crust itself

More from Merriam-Webster on pip

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