pip

1. Any of various respiratory diseases in birds, especially infectious coryza.First known use the 15th c.
2. datedhumorousA disease, malaise or depression in humans.

   1912, D. H. Lawrence, letter to Edward Garnett I've got the pip horribly at present.

   4 more examples

   Fer, as the poit sez, me 'eart 'as got / The pip wiv yearnin' fer - I dunno wot.

   1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13

   With this deal Uncle Tom's got on with Homer Cream, it would be fatal to risk giving [Mrs Cream] the pip in any way.

   1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IV

   So sorry that you caught the pip On our most recent northward trip But you'll be better soon I'm hopin' Cause with the mornings I'm not copin' Some nerve. Tell those nasty viruses to Bug off!

   1980 August 16, “Mousie Mousie Wildflower (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 5, page 22

   “I frankly couldn't give a cat's knuckle about Gizmo. I mean, he's just kind of this fluttering lickspittle that is always bouncing about, always behind Nandor. But Nandor likes him.” “Oh, shut up, Colin Robinson. You're giving me the pip.”

   2021 September 2, Paul Simms, “The Prisoner” (1:11 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 3, episode 1, spoken by Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry)

plural pips

1. obsoleteA pippin, seed of any kind.
   1. UKobsoleteA seed inside certain fleshy fruits, such as the stone (pit) of a stonefruit or the smaller seeds of an orange or apple.

      Apple pips are edible, but don't have a pleasant taste.

      1 more example

      On most of the shores of the ancient Mediterranean, before any historical record, the cultivated grape vine, Vitis vinifera Linn., was grown. Its relationship to the wild vine of Eurasia, Vitis silvestris Gmel., is uncertain. Its pips can mostly be distinguished from those of the wild vine, and have been found in Egypt and Syrian Hama from the fourth millennium BC, at Lachish and Jericho in the early Bronze, at Troy II during the Bronze, in the Peloponnesus from Early Helladic, in Crete from the Early Minoan.

      1995, John Pairman Brown, Israel and Hellas (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; 231), volume 1, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 134

2. UScolloquialSomething or someone excellent, of high quality.

   She sure is a pip, that one. You need company?

   2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 612

3. UKWorld War IdatedP in RAF phonetic alphabet.

present singular third person pips · participle present pipping · participle past pipped · past pipped

1. transitiveTo remove the pips from.

   Peel and pip the grapes.

plural pips

1. One of the spots or symbols on a playing card, domino, die, etc.

   Synonyms: spot

2. public servicegovernmentOne of the stylised version of the Bath star worn on the shoulder of a uniform to denote rank, e.g. of a soldier or a fireman.
3. A spot; a speck.
4. A spot of light or an inverted V indicative of a return of radar waves reflected from an object; a blip.
5. A piece of rhizome with a dormant shoot of the lily of the valley plant, used for propagation

present singular third person pips · participle present pipping · participle past pipped · past pipped

1. transitiveTo get the better of; to defeat by a narrow margin.

   He led throughout the race but was pipped at the post.

   2 more examples

   Arteta faced much scrutiny after Spurs pipped the Gunners to Champions League football on the final day of last season, with opposite number Conte deservedly hailed for the transformation he had overseen in just a few months at the helm.

   2022 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham: Gunners show identity & direction in outstanding derby win”, in BBC Sport

   Some 28 percent said he was the best performer, pipping DeSantis by one point

   2023 August 24, Rob Crilly, “Vivek Ramaswamy beats Ron DeSantis for best performance AND tops Donald Trump as the 'real winner' in poll of the Republican debate”, in Daily Mail

   Synonyms: pip to the post

2. transitiveTo hit with a gunshot.

   The hunter managed to pip three ducks from his blind.

present singular third person pips · participle present pipping · participle past pipped · past pipped

1. intransitiveTo peep, to chirp.
2. biologyTo make the initial hole during the process of hatching from an egg.

plural pips

1. One of a series of very short, electronically produced tones, used, for example, to count down the final few seconds before a given time or to indicate that a caller using a payphone needs to make further payment to continue the call.

   I could clearly hear the frequent cataclysms of the upstairs lavatory, and my day began with the pips for the morning news in Charlotte Lawless's kitchen.

   1982, John Banville, The Newton Letter

   Synonyms: stroke

plural pips

1. currency tradingbusinessThe smallest price increment between two currencies in foreign exchange (forex) trading.

   The set-and-forget trader is playing fundamental direction and is seeking very large moves of 150 to 300 pips. This trader doesn't want to sit and watch the screen but play the longer moves and forces behind forex.

   2015, Abe Cofnas, “Trading Styles and Strategies”, in The Forex Trading Course: A Self-study Guide to Becoming a Successful Currency Trader, 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, part II (Timing the Trade with Technical Analysis), page 157

plural Pips

1. A diminutive form of the given names Philip, Phillip, Pippi and Philippa.

   My father’s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.

   1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter I, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 1

1. UKWorld War IslanggovernmentThe 1914 Star or 1914–15 Star medal.

1. abbreviationacronymhistoricalcomputingAcronym of Peripheral Interchange Program.
2. UKabbreviationinitialismgovernmentInitialism of Portsmouth Independents Party.

plural PIPs

1. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablebroadcastingAcronym of picture-in-picture.
2. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablegovernmentAcronym of predicted impact point.
3. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablebusinessAcronym of performance improvement plan.
4. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablebusinessAcronym of product improvement program.
5. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablemedicineAcronym of peak inspiratory pressure.
6. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableAcronym of personal independence payment.

alternative PIP

1. abbreviationinitialismuncountablebroadcastingInitialism of picture-in-picture.