Dip vs. Nip — What's the Difference?

To plunge briefly into a liquid, as in order to wet, coat, or saturate.

Nip is an ethnic slur against people of Japanese descent and origin. The word Nip is an abbreviation from Nippon (日本), the Japanese name for Japan.

To color or dye by immersing

To seize and pinch or bite

To immerse (a sheep or other animal) in a disinfectant solution.

To remove or sever by pinching or snipping

To form (a candle) by repeatedly immersing a wick in melted wax or tallow.

To bite or sting with the cold; chill.

To galvanize or plate (metal) by immersion.

To check or cut off the growth or development of

To scoop up by plunging the hand or a receptacle below the surface, as of a liquid; ladle

To snatch up hastily.

To lower and raise (a flag) in salute.

To take (the property of another) unlawfully; steal.

To lower or drop (something) suddenly

To move quickly; dart.

(Slang) To pick the pockets of.

To sip (alcoholic liquor) in small amounts

To plunge into water or other liquid and come out quickly.

To take a sip or sips of alcoholic liquor

To plunge the hand or a receptacle into liquid or a container, especially so as to take something up or out

The act or an instance of seizing or pinching.

To withdraw a small amount from a fund

A pinch or snip that cuts off or removes a small part

To drop down or sink out of sight suddenly

The small bit or portion so removed

To drop suddenly before climbing. Used of an aircraft.

A sharp, stinging quality, as of frosty air.

To slope downward; decline

Severely sharp cold or frost.

To decline slightly and usually temporarily

A cutting remark.

(Geology) To lie at an angle to the horizontal plane, as a rock stratum or vein.

A sharp, biting flavor; a tang

To read here and there at random; browse

A small amount of liquor.

To investigate a subject superficially; dabble

A small quantity of something edible or a potable liquor.

(Slang) To steal by picking pockets.

A nipple, usually of a woman.

To place a preparation of finely shredded tobacco in one's mouth.

A playful bite.

A brief plunge or immersion, especially a quick swim.

A pinch with the nails or teeth.

A liquid into which something is dipped, as for dyeing or disinfecting.

Briskly cold weather.

A savory creamy mixture into which crackers, raw vegetables, or other foods may be dipped.

A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching

An amount taken up by dipping.

A small cut, or a cutting off the end.

A container for dipping.

(mining) A more or less gradual thinning out of a stratum.

A candle made by repeated dipping in tallow or wax.

A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.

A downward slope; a decline.

A biting sarcasm; a taunt.

A sharp downward course; a drop

(nautical) A short turn in a rope.

(Geology) The downward inclination of a rock stratum or vein in reference to the plane of the horizon.

(papermaking) The place of intersection where one roll touches another

(Linguistics) A part of a phrase or sentence that is unstressed or less strongly stressed relative to surrounding words, as the words I and to in I have to go.

A pickpocket.

The unstressed portion of a metrical foot.

A hamburger.

Magnetic dip.

To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.

A hollow or depression.

To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.

(Sports) A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered by bending the elbows until the chin reaches the level of the bars and then is raised by straightening the arms.

To benumb [e.g., cheeks, fingers, nose] by severe cold.

(Slang) A pickpocket.

To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.

(Slang) A foolish or stupid person.

To annoy, as by nipping.

A preparation of finely shredded tobacco, usually placed between the lower lip and gum. Also called snuff.

To taunt.

A lower section of a road or geological feature.

To squeeze or pinch.

Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.

To steal; especially to cut a purse.

The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid.

To affect [one] painfully; to cause physical pain.'

A tank or trough where cattle or sheep are immersed in chemicals to kill parasites.

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

A dip stick.

A sip or small draught; esp., a draught of intoxicating liquor; a dram.

A swim, usually a short swim to refresh.

A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching; as, in the northern seas, the nip of masses of ice.

A pickpocket.

A pinch with the nails or teeth.

A sauce for dipping.

A small cut, or a cutting off the end.

(geology) The angle from horizontal of a planar geologic surface, such as a fault line.

A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost.

(archaic) A dipped candle.

A biting sarcasm; a taunt.

(dance) A move in many different styles of partner dances, often performed at the end of a dance, in which the follower leans far to the side and is supported by the leader.

A short turn in a rope.

(bodybuilding) A gymnastic or bodybuilding exercise on parallel bars in which the performer, resting on his hands, lets his arms bend and his body sink until his chin is level with the bars, and then raises himself by straightening his arms.

To catch and inclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.

(turpentine industry) The viscid exudation that is dipped out from incisions in the trees. Virgin dip is the runnings of the first year, yellow dip the runnings of subsequent years.

To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.

(aeronautics) A sudden drop followed by a climb, usually to avoid obstacles or as the result of getting into an airhole.

Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.

(uncountable) The moist form of snuff tobacco.

To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt.

The act of missing out on seeing a sought after bird.

A small drink of liquor;

Fried bread.

A person of Japanese descent

A financial asset in decline, seen as an investment opportunity.

A tart spiciness

(informal) A foolish person.

A small drink

(informal) A diplomat.

Small sharp biting

(transitive) To lower into a liquid.

Squeeze tightly between the fingers;

(intransitive) To immerse oneself; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink.

Give a small sharp bite to;

(intransitive) (of a value or rate) To decrease slightly.

Sever or remove by pinching or snipping;

(transitive) To lower a light's beam.

(transitive) To lower (a flag), particularly a national ensign, to a partially hoisted position in order to render or to return a salute. While lowered, the flag is said to be “at the dip.” A flag being carried on a staff may be dipped by leaning it forward at an approximate angle of 45 degrees.

(transitive) To treat cattle or sheep by immersion in chemical solution.

(transitive) To use a dip stick to check oil level in an engine.

To consume snuff by placing a pinch behind the lip or under the tongue so that the active chemical constituents of the snuff may be absorbed into the system for their narcotic effect.

(transitive) To immerse for baptism.

(transitive) To wet, as if by immersing; to moisten.

(intransitive) To plunge or engage thoroughly in any affair.

(transitive) To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; often with out.

(intransitive) To perform the action of plunging a dipper, ladle. etc. into a liquid or soft substance and removing a part.

(transitive) To engage as a pledge; to mortgage.

(transitive) To perform (a bow or curtsey) by inclining the body.

(intransitive) To incline downward from the plane of the horizon.

To perform a dip dance move (often phrased with the leader as the subject noun and the follower as the subject noun being dipped)

To lower the body by bending the knees while keeping the body in an upright position, as in movement to the rhythm of music.

To leave.

To miss out on seeing a sought after bird.

To plunge or immerse; especially, to put for a moment into a liquid; to insert into a fluid and withdraw again.

To immerse for baptism; to baptize by immersion.

To wet, as if by immersing; to moisten.

To plunge or engage thoroughly in any affair.

To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; - often with out; as, to dip water from a boiler; to dip out water.

To engage as a pledge; to mortgage.

To immerse one's self; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink.

To perform the action of plunging some receptacle, as a dipper, ladle. etc.; into a liquid or a soft substance and removing a part.

To pierce; to penetrate; - followed by in or into.

To enter slightly or cursorily; to engage one's self desultorily or by the way; to partake limitedly; - followed by in or into.

To incline downward from the plane of the horizon; as, strata of rock dip.

To dip snuff.

The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid.

Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.

A hollow or depression in a surface, especially in the ground.

A liquid, as a sauce or gravy, served at table with a ladle or spoon.

A dipped candle.

A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the performer, resting on his hands, lets his arms bend and his body sink until his chin is level with the bars, and then raises himself by straightening his arms.

In the turpentine industry, the viscid exudation, which is dipped out from incisions in the trees; as, virgin dip (the runnings of the first year), yellow dip (the runnings of subsequent years).

A sudden drop followed by a climb, usually to avoid obstacles or as the result of getting into an airhole.

A liquid, in which objects are soaked by dipping; e.g., a parasiticide or insecticide solution into which animals are dipped (see sheep-dip).

A sauce into which foods are dipped to enhance the flavor; e. g., an onion dip made from sour cream and dried onions, into which potato chips are dipped.

A pickpocket.

A depression in an otherwise level surface;

(physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon

A thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places

Tasty mixture or liquid into which bite-sized foods are dipped

A brief immersion

A sudden sharp decrease in some quantity;

A candle that is made by repeated dipping in a pool of wax or tallow

A brief swim in water

A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered and raised by bending and straightening the arms

Immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate;

Dip into a liquid while eating;

Go down momentarily;

Stain an object by immersing it in a liquid

Switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam

Lower briefly;

Appear to move downward;

Slope downwards;

Dip into a liquid;

Of candles; by dipping the wick into hot, liquid wax

Immerse in a disinfectant solution;

Scoop up by plunging one's hand or a ladle below the surface;