Clip

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /klɪp/

Definitions

1. To join by means of a small clasp or fastener ; to shorten by cutting off unwanted parts ; a brief, selected portion of a recorded performance or broadcast
2. To fasten or secure with a small object designed to hold items together ; to reduce the length by removing sections ; a short segment taken from a longer audio or video piece
3. To connect or lock parts using a clasp ; to remove excess by cutting carefully ; a brief snippet from a larger recording or broadcast

Etymology: The verb "clip" has two separate ancestors that happened to merge in Middle English. One is an Old English verb meaning "to hug, embrace, cherish, clasp," which traces back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "lump" or "clump," the idea of squeezing things into a tight mass. The other came from Old Norse "klippa," meaning "to clip, cut the hair, shear sheep," a verb that Norse speakers used for trimming wool and hair. Its relatives survive across Scandinavia today, in Icelandic, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. Over the centuries the two verbs fused, so the modern sense of cutting or fastening carries traces of both. The embracing sense of squeezing tightly seems to lie behind the idea of gripping something, while the shearing sense from the Norse side gave the familiar meaning of trimming with scissors or shears.

Synonyms: cut, trim, snip, shear, fasten

Antonyms: attach, join, connect, unclip, loosen