jimp

comparative jimper · superlative jimpest

1. Northern EnglandScotlanddatedneat; trim; delicate

   … Annette was on hand, stony-eyed but mighty jimp in a gown that seemed to consist of flowers and gauze.

   1994, George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, Reprint edition, HarperCollins, published 2011, →ISBN

   1 more example

   Do I look so terrible old, Gilian, that you cannot think of me as not so bad-looking either, with a bonny eye, they said, and a jimp waist, and a foot like the honey-bee?

   1899, Neil Munro, Gilian the Dreamer, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2007

   Synonyms: slender, handsome, spruce, elegant

2. Northern EnglandScotlanddatedscant; barely sufficient.

plural jimps

1. A notch on the spine of a knife blade to increase grip, usually in sets of three or more (jimping).
2. Such a notch elsewhere on the knife (handle scales, liner lock, choil) for the same purpose (grippiness).