Clipping

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈklɪpɪŋ/

Definitions

1. A small piece cut off or detached from a larger item like hair or plants ; a reduction in size, amount, or extent of something ; a shortened form of a word created by dropping parts of it
2. A fragment removed from a larger object such as a plant cutting or trimmed hair ; the act of decreasing or making something smaller ; an abbreviated word formed by omitting syllables or letters
3. Something cut away and separated from its original whole, often a snippet of text or a plant ; the process of diminishing or curtailing ; a condensed word version made by cutting off some parts

Etymology: "Clipping" is one of the plainest formations in English: the verb "clip" with the suffix "-ing" attached. "Clip" itself goes back to Middle English, where it meant to embrace or grasp, a sense that survives only in the older meaning of "clasp" and in phrases about clipping someone in an embrace. The cutting sense that dominates today came to the fore as people snipped and shore with shears, and from that the noun "clipping" took on its meaning of a piece cut away from something larger. The noun is most familiar now from newspapers, where a clipping is a snippet cut from a page, and that everyday use sits close to the original idea of trimming something off a whole. The word has changed little in form, which is why its history is easy to read straight from its parts.

Synonyms: cutting, trimming, shearing, cropping, snipping