imp

CEFRB2

/ɪmp/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small mischievous creature or child.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    To engraft (a feather) on to a broken feather in a bird's wing or tail to repair it; to engraft (feathers) on to a bird, or a bird's wing or tail.

Examples

  • That pesky imp must be punished.

  • What a little imp he is!

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. To graft or implant (something other than a plant); to fix or set (something) in.

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To engraft or plant (a plant or part of one, a sapling, etc.).

  2. To add to or unite an object with (something) to lengthen the latter out or repair it; to eke out, enlarge, strengthen.

More examples

In context

  • I have known feathers so imped that the eye could not discern the place of juncture, and it was difficult even to discover it by passing the thumb-nail down the shaft of the imped feather.

  • That headleſſe tyrants tronke he reard from ground, / And, having ympt the head to it agayne, / Vpon his vſuall beaſt it firmely bound, / And made it ſo to ride, as it aliue was found.

  • Bird rehabilitators borrow a trick from falconry with the age-old process of imping flight feathers on to a damaged bird.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The little blank hid in the closet and scared his sister by jumping out suddenly.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English impen, ympen (“to plant; (figuratively) to bury; to graft; to add to, insert, put into, set in; to mend (a falcon’s feather) by attaching a new feather on to the broken stump”), from Old English impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”), from Proto-West Germanic *impōn (“to graft”), from Vulgar Latin *imputō (“to graft”), from Ancient Greek ἔμφῠτος (émphŭtos, “implanted; planted”), from ἐμφῠ́ω (emphŭ́ō, “to implant”, from ἐν- (en-, prefix meaning ‘in’) + φῠ́ω (phŭ́ō, “to bring forth, produce; to grow”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear; to become; to grow”))) + -τος (-tos).