snip

present singular third person snips · participle present snipping · participle past snipped · past snipped

1. To cut with short sharp actions, as with scissors.

   I don't want you to take much hair off; just snip my mullet off.

2. To reduce the price of a product, to create a snip.
3. To break off; to snatch away.

   [T]he Captain ſeldom ordered any thing out of the Ship's Stores, […] but I ſnipt ſome of it for my own Share.

   1720, [Daniel Defoe], The Life, Adventures, and Pyracies, of the Famous Captain Singleton, London: […] J[ohn] Brotherton, […], J[ohn] Graves […], A[nne] Dodd, […], and T[homas] Warner, […], →OCLC, page 8

4. informalTo circumcise.

   His children, however, were not snipped, possibly because Princess Diana was opposed to the practice, which is out of fashion in England.

   2008, Ilene Schneider, Talk Dirty Yiddish: Beyond Drek: The Curses, Slang, and Street Lingo You Need to Know When You Speak Yiddish, Adams Media, published 2008, →ISBN, page 150

   2 more examples

   Circumcised fathers face a special problem. Do you want your son's willy to be that radically different from your own? So, parents should perhaps not be put off. Be good to your son's future lovers and have him snipped.

   2001, David Cohen, The Father's Book: Being a Good Dad in the 21st Century, John WIley & Sons Ltd, published 2001, →ISBN, page 72

   By the outbreak of the First World War such claims had diminished and the medical profession touted circumcision as being 'hygienic' — fathers were not only encouraged to have their newborn sons snipped, but to belatedly enjoy the benefits themselves.

   2012, Tom Hickman, God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis, Square Peg, published 2012, →ISBN, page 144

5. informalTo perform a vasectomy.
6. InternetTo remove the irrelevant parts of quotations in the reply message.
7. To speak or say in a snippish manner.

   "No, Jo, it wasn't one bit crowded, there was room enought ^([sic]) for everyone," she burbled on. "And we were there, and all these other wymeen too, of all shapes, sizes, and colors..." "Hmpgh! Very politically correct!" Jo snipped.

   1980 August 16, Andrea Loewenstein, “Random Lust”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 5, page 19

plural snips

1. The act of snipping; cutting a small amount off of something.
2. A single cut with scissors, clippers, or similar tool.
3. A small amount of something; a pinch.
4. A piece cut out by snipping.

   It was true about the fanmaking; the table and floor were littered with snips of paper.

   1967, Elizabeth George Speare, The Prospering, page 293

5. informalSomething acquired for a low price; a bargain.

   That wholesale auction lot was a snip at $10.

6. definiteeuphemisticA vasectomy.
7. informalA small or weak person, especially a young one.

   'Might as well come out now, you little snip, from wherever you be hiding!'

   2010, Ellen Renner, Castle of Shadows, Hachette UK, published 2010, →ISBN

8. InternetRemoval of the irrelevant parts of quotations in the reply message.

   His snips of my post included : […]

   2002 July 24, Joe Parente, “Ronald Reagan - a great, mediocre or bad president?”, in alt.fan.ronald-reagan (Usenet)

   2 more examples

   Now then, please explain how Jeff's snip managed to keep my point intact. […] I posted a valid argument that he still snipped. You made the claim that his snips were honest removals of "silly and superfluous" points, […]

   2003 July 23, John Hattan, “I just toured alt.atheism -- What a load of hooey.”, in alt.atheism (Usenet)

   Well, let's make this easy, and I see the snips begin already for those parts you wish to go away when your^([sic]) confronted with your own drool, […]

   2007 October 24, Doc Tony, “Irving challenged by Grubach”, in alt.revisionism (Usenet)

   Synonyms: snippage, snippectomy, snipping

9. onomatopoeicAn act or sound of snipping, the sound produced by scissors.
10. datedAn impertinent or mischievous person.

    Nor was the lady's establishment more fortunate in gaining the regard of the household. The maid was a verjuiced spinster, too old to love herself, and too ill-natured to look on. The footman was a regular snip […]

    1835, William Hamilton Maxwell, My Life, page 283

11. obsoleteA share or portion; a snack.

    His Third Query is a Frank Proposal, without any more ado, of taking all the Church Lands into the Crown; and Courteously he offers the Poor Cavaliers a Snip in the Booty

    1680, Roger L'Estrange, The Free-Born Subject, Or, the Englishmans Birthright Asserted Against All Tyrannical Vsvrpations Either in Church or State

12. obsoleteslangA tailor.

    […] you fool, why did you let out that you were a snip?" "I am not ashamed of my trade.”

    1850, Charles Kingsley, Alton Locke

13. A white marking on a horse's muzzle, between the nostrils.