Pip Meaning
/pɪp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny of various respiratory diseases in birds, especially infectious coryza.
nounA disease, malaise or depression in humans.
Sentence Examples
"What shall we do with the rubbish, Mr Wood?" asked Pip.
Now stop asking questions, Pip. I'm busy.
Don't talk to your mom like that, pip squeak!
CEFR Practice Quiz
The child accidentally swallowed a small apple ____, but it passed through safely.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She removed the ____ from the cherry before adding it to the cake batter.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English pippe, from Middle Dutch pip, from post-classical Latin pipita, from Latin pītuīta (“mucus, phlegm, head cold”). Doublet of pituita.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Fer, as the poit sez, me 'eart 'as got / The pip wiv yearnin' fer - I dunno wot."
— 1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:
"With this deal Uncle Tom's got on with Homer Cream, it would be fatal to risk giving [Mrs Cream] the pip in any way."
— 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IV:
"So sorry that you caught the pip
On our most recent northward trip
But you'll be better soon I'm hopin'
Cause with the mornings I'm not copin'
Some nerve. Tell those nasty viruses to Bug off!"
— 1980 August 16, “Mousie Mousie Wildflower (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 5, page 22:
"“I frankly couldn't give a cat's knuckle about Gizmo. I mean, he's just kind of this fluttering lickspittle that is always bouncing about, always behind Nandor. But Nandor likes him.” “Oh, shut up, Colin Robinson. You're giving me the pip.”"
— 2021 September 2, Paul Simms, “The Prisoner” (1:11 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 3, episode 1, spoken by Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry):
"On most of the shores of the ancient Mediterranean, before any historical record, the cultivated grape vine, Vitis vinifera Linn., was grown. Its relationship to the wild vine of Eurasia, Vitis silvestris Gmel., is uncertain. Its pips can mostly be distinguished from those of the wild vine, and have been found in Egypt and Syrian Hama from the fourth millennium BC, at Lachish and Jericho in the early Bronze, at Troy II during the Bronze, in the Peloponnesus from Early Helladic, in Crete from the Early Minoan."
— 1995, John Pairman Brown, Israel and Hellas (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; 231), volume 1, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 134:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The child accidentally swallowed a small apple ____, but it passed through safely.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She removed the ____ from the cherry before adding it to the cake batter.