1[intransitiveI always + adverbadv/prepositionprep]British EnglishBrE informalGO to go somewhere quickly or for a short time 快走,急忙离去;去一会儿SYN pop
Have we time to nip down the pub for a quick drink?
我们有没有时间到酒吧去小坐一会儿喝点什么?
Another car nipped in (=moved quickly into a space) in front of me.
另一辆车突然插到我前面。
I’ve got to nip home and change my clothes.
我得赶快回家去换一下衣服。
2[intransitiveI, transitiveT]BITE to bite someone or something lightly 轻咬
She gently nipped the lobe of his ear.
她轻咬着他的耳垂。
nip at
The fish swam all around her and nipped at her legs.
鱼儿在她身边游来游去,轻轻咬着她的双腿。
3nip something in the budPREVENTto prevent something from becoming a problem by stopping it as soon as it starts 把某事物消灭在萌芽状态;对某事物一开始即加以阻止
Try to nip this kind of bad behaviour in the bud.
要尽早制止这种不良行为。
Examples from the Corpus
nip something in the bud• It's important to nip this problem in the bud.• The idea is to nip minor school problems in the bud.• Guideline 18: Try to nip misbehaviour in the bud.• It was the best way to nip this in the bud.• Farbetter to draw them into the school to nip things in the bud than leave them to fermentdiscontent.• If I'd known about their plan I could have nipped it in the bud there and then.
4[transitiveT]British EnglishBrEPRESS to suddenly and quickly press something tightly between two fingers, edges, or surfaces 夹;钳;掐 → pinch
Sally nipped her cheeks to make them look less pale.
萨莉拧了拧自己的脸颊,好让脸色看上去不那么苍白。
He nipped his finger in the door.
他的手指被门夹了一下。
5[intransitiveI, transitiveT] writtenHURT if coldweather or the wind nips at part of your body or at a plant, it hurts or damages it 〔严寒天气或寒风〕冻得人疼痛;把植物冻坏
nip at
The frost nipped at our fingers.
严寒的天气让我们手指冻得生疼。
6nip something ↔ offphrasal verbphr vDLGREMOVEto remove a small part of something, especially a plant, by pressing it tightly between your finger and thumb 掐掉,摘去〔尤指植物的一部分〕
She nipped off a dead flower.
她掐掉了一朵凋谢的花。
Examples from the Corpus
nip off• He drew on it, then took it out of his mouth and nipped the end off before dropping it on the floor.
I might consider getting a nip and tuck in a few years' time.
过几年我可能会考虑去做个整容手术。
Examples from the Corpus
nip and tuck• Rab won the first game; nip and tuck, not much in it; to lose the next.• It was nip and tuck up to 7-7 before Best opened up a 12-9 lead.• The fourthquarter was nip and tuck, but the Bulls won 92-90.
Examples from the Corpus
nip• He thought she might be on the point of offering him a nip of whisky but she did not go that far.• A nip here, a tuck there, and it was seven years ago.• He took to having a daily early-morning nip from a half-bottle of whisky in his hippocket.• The dog gave me a playfulnip.• He called his techniquenips for blips, blips being the little green numbers that representbondprices on the screens.• The nip on my cheeks of it confirms life.• It was nip and tuck up to 7-7 before Best opened up a 12-9 lead.• Already, the darkness was closing in, and there was a realwinternip in the air.• He was shortly drinking hard, following bourbon two-fers with nipbottles of LuckyLager.