How do you use the word "nip" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "nip" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "nip": We have to nip this problem in the bud before it gets any worse. Algeria needs to nip this problem in the bud.

Nip Meaning

/nɪp/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.

verbTo remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.

Sentence Examples

We have to nip this problem in the bud before it gets any worse.

Algeria needs to nip this problem in the bud.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

shot clip smack

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The small dog tried to ____ my ankle as I walked past, leaving a tiny mark.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

There was a sharp ____ in the air, suggesting that winter was finally arriving.

Word Origin & History

From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), from Middle Low German knîpen, from Old Saxon *knīpan, from Proto-West Germanic *knīpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną (“to pinch”). Related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress." — 1859, Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King, Merlin and Vivien:

"The small shoots ... must be nipt off." — 1716, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry:

"And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip." — 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:

"Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you." — 1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:

"The twelfth is a beau-trap, if a cull he does meet, / He nips all his cole, and turns him into the street." — 1712, J. Shirley, “The Black Procession”, in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris, verse 4, published 1896, page 38:

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