clip·per

[klip-er]
noun
1.
a person or thing that clips 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.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English; see clip1, -er1

Related forms
un·clip·per, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Clipper is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
clipper (ˈklɪpə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
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

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

clipper
early 14c., from clippen "shorten," perhaps infl. by M.Du. klepper "swift horse," echoic. The type of fast sailing ship so called from 1830, from clip (1) in sense of "to move or run rapidly."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

Clipper definition


1. An integrated circuit which implements the SkipJack algorithm. The Clipper is manufactured by the US government to encrypt telephone data. It has the added feature that it can be decrypted by the US government, which has tried to make the chip compulsory in the United States. Phil Zimmerman (inventor of PGP) remarked, "This doesn't even pass the sniff test" (i.e. it stinks).
(http://wired.com/clipper/).
news:alt.privacy.clipper
2. A compiled dBASE dialect from Nantucket Corp, LA. Versions: Winter 85, Spring 86, Autumn 86, Summer 87, 4.5 (Japanese Kanji), 5.0. It uses the Xbase programming language.
(2004-09-01)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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Example sentences
The hook could be a shampoo bottle full of water, a boot or a fingernail clipper.
Clipper taught a generation that commercial flight could be glamorous, even opulent.
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