Nipping

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To give a keen or stinging nip, as from a small bite ; referring to weather that feels chilly and refreshing ; to intervene to check or reduce something in extent or intensity
2. Biting with a quick, sharp pinch or small bite ; having a sensation of brisk or penetrating coldness ; stopping or reducing the progress of something suddenly
3. Delivering a brief, stinging bite ; relating to weather that causes a brisk chill ; restraining or limiting an action or process abruptly

Etymology: Nipping is simply the present participle of "nip," and the verb's three senses (biting, chilling, and checking something suddenly) come from a single idea of pinching. The verb comes from late Middle English "nippen," probably from Low German or Dutch and ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to pinch." Its relatives span the Germanic languages: Dutch "nijpen," German "kneifen," and Swedish "nypa" all mean to pinch, and the sense of a quick, sharp squeeze carries across them. The sense of a bitter, stinging cold grew naturally from that pinching idea: wind and frost were pictured as tiny teeth or fingers nipping at the skin. The sense of cutting something short grew the same way, as a sudden pinch stops a thing in its tracks.

Synonyms: biting, snapping

Antonyms: releasing, liberating