as in shaving
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument
snipped the loose ends
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Recent Examples of snipping
So don't be shy about snipping off leaves for your projects.
—
Melissa Epifano, The Spruce, 15 May 2026
Police are searching for a straphanger suspected of unbolting a door switch from a inside a downtown C train Monday evening, snipping the wires and then absconding with the train part, sources tell the Daily News.
—Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 14 May 2026
Nguyen’s striking direction in the scenes in which Kristen faces her future in the hospital elevates the maudlin material, especially after Kristen makes the choice to lose a leg in the hopes of snipping the cancer in the bud.
—Marya E. Gates, IndieWire, 13 May 2026
Its DuoScrub rotary mops apply downward pressure to erase stains, while a specialized hair-snipping brush eliminates manual detangling.
—Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 6 May 2026
One enzyme acts as a random chopper, snipping the long polymer chains into smaller pieces, while the other slowly chews these pieces into their monomer building units from each end.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 3 May 2026
This is easily accomplished by snipping the smaller ones (when a few inches tall) beneath the soil line instead of uprooting them, which could disturb the roots of the single seedling in each cluster.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 1 May 2026
Brushing past a pot of rosemary on the way to the grill, or snipping mint for a drink, makes the garden feel personal in a way that purely ornamental plantings cannot.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Lilac standards require little pruning other than snipping spent flower blossoms and clipping back stems in early summer to maintain shape.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Apr. 2026
Melissa Epifano, The Spruce, 15 May 2026
Police are searching for a straphanger suspected of unbolting a door switch from a inside a downtown C train Monday evening, snipping the wires and then absconding with the train part, sources tell the Daily News.
—Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 14 May 2026
Nguyen’s striking direction in the scenes in which Kristen faces her future in the hospital elevates the maudlin material, especially after Kristen makes the choice to lose a leg in the hopes of snipping the cancer in the bud.
—Marya E. Gates, IndieWire, 13 May 2026
Its DuoScrub rotary mops apply downward pressure to erase stains, while a specialized hair-snipping brush eliminates manual detangling.
—Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 6 May 2026
One enzyme acts as a random chopper, snipping the long polymer chains into smaller pieces, while the other slowly chews these pieces into their monomer building units from each end.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 3 May 2026
This is easily accomplished by snipping the smaller ones (when a few inches tall) beneath the soil line instead of uprooting them, which could disturb the roots of the single seedling in each cluster.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 1 May 2026
Brushing past a pot of rosemary on the way to the grill, or snipping mint for a drink, makes the garden feel personal in a way that purely ornamental plantings cannot.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Lilac standards require little pruning other than snipping spent flower blossoms and clipping back stems in early summer to maintain shape.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snipping
Verb
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Fairley also admitted Thursday to placing wagers and recruiting and bribing college basketball players to underperform in games in a separate NCAA point-shaving case brought by federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania.—
Tom Winter,
NBC news,
28 May 2026
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The people who stand to gain the most from this record-setting refresh rate are high-level competitors with PCs that can push extremely high frame rates, for whom shaving down the smallest fractions of latency can make a real difference.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
23 May 2026
Verb
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Or are the Red Sox better off cutting their losses, selling their pending free agents and looking ahead to 2027?—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
31 May 2026
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For fiscal year 2026, the administration proposed cutting NOAA’s budget by roughly 25 percent and eliminating the agency's research arm, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the division that houses much of its climate work.—
Ingmar Rentzhog,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2026
Verb
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Protective measures range from trimming at-risk tree branches to replacing flimsy exterior doors with stronger ones.—
Jennifer Borresen,
USA Today,
29 May 2026
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Michael is stepping into a really key role trimming the wing, which is probably one of the harder roles on the F50.—
Andrew Rice,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Verb
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There was also, again strangely, slightly more clipping on show in very bright areas in the Bravia 9 II’s Standard and Movie presets than there was on the original Bravia 9, even though the Bravia 9 II actually displayed less clipping than its predecessor in Professional mode.—
John Archer,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
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Manager Dave Roberts said the ball mostly hit the pad on Ohtani's hand before clipping his pinkie finger.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Snipping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snipping. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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