different between tweak vs nip

English

Etymology

From Middle English twikken, from Old English twiccian (“to pluck”), from Proto-West Germanic *twekk?n (“to fasten; clamp; pinch”). Related to twitch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twi?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k

Verb

tweak (third-person singular simple present tweaks, present participle tweaking, simple past and past participle tweaked)

1. (transitive) To pinch and pull with a sudden jerk and twist; to twitch.

2. (transitive, informal) To adjust slightly; to fine-tune.
3. (transitive) To twit or tease.
4. (intransitive, US, slang) To abuse methamphetamines, especially crystal meth.
5. (intransitive, US, slang) To exhibit symptoms of methamphetamine abuse, such as extreme nervousness, compulsiveness, erratic motion, excitability; possibly a blend of twitch and freak.
6. (intransitive, US, slang) To exhibit extreme nervousness, evasiveness when confronted by law enforcement or other authority (e.g., customs agents, border patrol, teacher, etc.), mimicking methamphetamine abuse symptoms.

Derived terms

• (drug abuser): tweaker, (US)
• (drug abuse): tweaking

Translations

Noun

tweak (plural tweaks)

1. A sharp pinch or jerk; a twist or twitch.

2. A slight adjustment or modification.

3. Trouble; distress; tweag.
4. (obsolete, slang) A prostitute.
5. (cryptography) An additional input to a block cipher, used in conjunction with the key to select the permutation computed by the cipher.

Translations

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?p, IPA^(key): /n?p/
• Rhymes: -?p

Etymology 1

Short for nipperkin, ultimately from Middle Low German nippen or Middle Dutch nipen ("to sip; nip"; > Dutch nippen). Compare also German nippen (“to sip; taste”).

Noun

nip (plural nips)

1. A small quantity of something edible or a potable liquor.

   Synonyms: (of food) nibble, (specifically of alcohol) a little of the creature; see also Thesaurus:drink

Etymology 2

Clipping of nipple.

Noun

nip (plural nips)

1. (slang, vulgar) A nipple, usually of a woman.

Etymology 3

From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kn?pan? (“to pinch”); related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.

Verb

nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)

1. To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.
2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.
3. To benumb [e.g., cheeks, fingers, nose] by severe cold.
4. To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.
5. To annoy, as by nipping.
6. To taunt.
7. (Scotland, Northern England) To squeeze or pinch.
8. (obsolete, Britain, thieves' cant) To steal; especially to cut a purse.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:steal

9. (obsolete) To affect [one] painfully; to cause physical pain.'
   • 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, XII [Uniform ed., p. 136]:

     He had never expected to fling the soldier, or to be flung by Flea. “One nips or is nipped,” he thought, “and never knows beforehand. …"

Translations

Noun

nip (plural nips)

1. A playful bite.

2. A pinch with the nails or teeth.
3. Briskly cold weather.
   • 1915, W.S. Maugham, "Of Human Bondage", chapter 118:

     The day had only just broken, and there was a nip in the air; but the sky was cloudless, and the sun was shining yellow.

4. A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching

5. A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
6. (mining) A more or less gradual thinning out of a stratum.
7. A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.
8. A biting sarcasm; a taunt.
9. (nautical) A short turn in a rope.
10. (papermaking) The place of intersection where one roll touches another
11. (obsolete, Britain, thieves' cant) A pickpocket.

    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pickpocket

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)

1. (informal) To make a quick, short journey or errand, usually a round trip.

   Why don’t you nip down to the grocer’s for some milk?

Anagrams

• NPI, PIN, pin

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *nep?, from Proto-Indo-European *nép?ts (“grandson, nephew”). Cognate to Latin nepos (“grandson”) and Sanskrit ????? (nápat-, “grandson”). Reinforcement/influence or a borrowing from Latin is also possible.

Noun

nip m (indefinite plural nipër, definite singular nipi, definite plural nipërt)

1. nephew
2. grandson

Derived terms

See also

• mbesë

References

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

nip

1. first-person singular present indicative of nippen
2. imperative of nippen

Anagrams

• pin

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n??i?b/

Verb

nip

1. Alternative spelling of níp

Mutation