nipple

plural nipples · alternative obsolete neple · alternative obsolete nypil · alternative obsolete nyppell · alternative obsolete neapel · alternative obsolete neaple · alternative obsolete neble

1. anatomyThe projection of a mammary gland from which, on female therian mammals, milk is secreted.First known use 16th c.

   Mary felt annoyed at the girl; just because bras had become passé, did a girl with so pronounced a bosom have to cater to fashion? In this case practicality dictated a bra, and Mary stood at the desk feeling herself flushing with disapproval. And artificial nipple-dilation; it was just too much.

   1964, Philip K. Dick, “THREE”, in Clans of the Alphane Moon, United States: Ace Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996, →ISBN, page 27

   Synonyms: tit, nipples, blinkers, braille, bullets, bumps, chichis, circuit breakers

2. The nipple (noun sense 1) and the areola together.

   1 more example

   Joan Trieste wore skin-tight dark pants and slippers and a cotton man’s-style shirt; as far as he could tell, she had on no bra, as fashion dictated, but her nipples were merely flat dark circles beneath the white cotton fabric of her shirt: she could not afford or did not care to have the currently-popular dilation operation.

   1964, Philip K. Dick, “FOUR”, in Clans of the Alphane Moon, United States: Ace Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996, →ISBN, page 37

3. A mechanical device through which liquids or gases can be passed in a regulated manner.First known use 16th c.
4. An artificial nipple (noun sense 1) used for bottle-feeding infants.First known use 17th c.

   Synonyms: teat

5. Any small physical protrusion, such as the lumps on the F and J keys on computer keyboards.
6. Any small physical protrusion on an automotive, a machine part or any other part that fits into a groove on another part.
7. historicalA perforated segment that fits into part of the breech of a muzzle-loading gun, on which the percussion cap is fixed.First known use 19th c.

   I could tell he didn't agree but he went to the corner and took up his squirrel gun, feeling the nipple for a percussion cap.

   2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 23

8. USbusinessA short tube threaded at both ends, used as a connector.First known use 19th c.
9. cyclingAn internally threaded piece which holds a bicycle spoke in place on the rim.First known use 20th c.

   Turn the nipples on to the bicycle spokes only one turn, for each spoke on the new wheel all the way around until they are all snug, then check alignment.

   2 more examples

   These were first constructed by heading the spokes, threading them through a steel felloe or rim and inserting them into screwed nipples which were in their turn screwed into the flanges of the hub.

   1921, W. F. Grew, The Cycle Industry, London, page 5

   In the original context of the World Wide Web the ’authorities’ are information sources, whereas herein the ’authorities’ are the material sinks. The hubs remain the ’naves’ in the link structure but are the sources of material. Continuing the wheel analogy, the authorities would be ‘spoke nipples’

   2024, Thérèse G. Lee Chan, David A. Janes, Kyle P. Joshua, “Filtering ‘3–2’ industrial symbiosis networks at a carbon-intensive cluster in a small island developing state to reuse CO₂ and water”, in Chemical Engineering Research and Design, volume 212, →DOI, page 45

10. humorouscomputingA pointing stick.

present singular third person nipples · participle present nippling · participle past nippled · past nippled · alternative obsolete neple · alternative obsolete nypil · alternative obsolete nyppell · alternative obsolete neapel · alternative obsolete neaple · alternative obsolete neble

1. transitiveTo fit (a baby's bottle, etc.) with a nipple.
2. transitiveTo give one's nipple to (a baby) to allow breastfeeding.