clipper

[ klip-er ]

noun

1. a person or thing that clips clip or cuts.
2. Often clippers. (often used with a plural verb) a cutting tool, especially shears:

   hedge clippers.

3. Usually clippers. (usually used with a plural verb) a mechanical or electric tool for cutting hair, fingernails, or the like:

   He told the barber, “No clippers on the sides, please.”

4. Nautical. Also called clipper ship. a sailing ship built and rigged for speed, especially a type of three-masted ship with a fast hull form and a lofty rig, built in the U.S. from c1845, and in Great Britain from a later date, until c1870, and used in trades in which speed was more important than cargo capacity.
5. Electronics. a device that gives output only for an input above or below a certain critical value.
6. a person or thing that moves along swiftly.

clipper

/ ˈklɪpə /

noun

1. any fast sailing ship
2. a person or thing that cuts or clips
3. something, such as a horse or sled, that moves quickly
4. electronics another word for limiter

Other Words From

• un·clip·per noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of clipper¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; clip ¹, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Plant people are easy to buy for — and hard too — because the really die-hard gardeners usually want nothing more than their favorite battered clippers and an old table knife for weeding.

From Los Angeles Times

Although they were a force in the 2016 and 2020 elections, the clippers have flooded social media in a way that feels more pronounced, probably because so many more of us are consuming media online.

From Los Angeles Times

In Section 60, young widows can be seen using clippers and scissors to groom the grass around their husbands’ tombstones as lots of children run about.

From Salon

At a time when cruise lines are packing their ever-more-gargantuan ships with water parks and basketball courts, the 136-passenger Sea Cloud Spirit, with its old-fashioned clipper design and wooden decks, stands out.

From New York Times

After four or five years, I would have had to go and check the head and take the clippers out.

From BBC