blip

[blip] noun, verb, blipped, blip·ping.
noun
1.
Also called pip. Electronics.
a.
a spot of light on a radar screen indicating the position of a plane, submarine, or other object.
b.
(loosely) any small spot of light on a display screen.
2.
a brief upturn, as in revenue or income: The midwinter blip was no cause for optimism among store owners.
3.
anything small, as in amount or number: a blip of light; Those opposed were merely a blip in the opinion polls.
4.
bleep ( def 3 ).
5.
Slang. a nickel; five cents.
6.
Movies. a mark of synchronization on a sound track.
7.
a small or brief interruption, as in the continuity of a motion-picture film or the supply of light or electricity: There were blips in the TV film where the commercials had been edited out.
verb (used without object)
8.
Informal. to move or proceed in short, irregular, jerking movements: The stock market has blipped one point higher this week.
00:10
Blip is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
to flee; abscond:
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
verb (used with object)
9.
bleep ( def 5 ).

Origin:
1890–95, for an earlier sense; sound symbolism, with p for brevity and abrupt end of the impulse; bl- perhaps from blink

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
blip (blɪp) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a repetitive sound, such as that produced by an electronic device, by dripping water, etc
2.  Also called: pip the spot of light or a sharply peaked pulse on a radar screen indicating the position of an object
3.  a temporary irregularity recorded in performance of something
 
vb , blips, blipping, blipped
4.  (intr) to produce such a noise
 
[C20: of imitative origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

blip
1894, of echoic origin. Radar screen sense is from 1945.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

blip definition

[blɪp]
  1. n.
    an intermittently appearing light on a radar screen. : A blip caught the controller's eye for an instant.
  2. n.
    anything quick and insignificant; a onetime thing of little importance. : It was nothing, just a blip. The press blew it out of proportion.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
In fact it is an insignificant blip on the historic data line which is smoothed
  over centuries.
And this was a rare positive blip in an anti-euro trend.
If the nearby star moves a lot with respect to the other blip of light, chances
  are that blip is a star much farther away.
There are two long-term causes and a temporary blip that will continue to show
  up in the figures for the next few decades.
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