clipper
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a tool used for cutting hair, fingernails, or hedges.
n.a mechanical or electrical device designed for clipping or trimming, typically used for grooming or gardening.
Simple“The barber used electric clippers to give him a very short haircut.”
In context“After the dog's bath, the groomer used specialized clippers to trim the thick fur around its paws.”
UsageOften used in the plural form 'clippers' when referring to a single tool.
Synonymstrimmersshears - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a very fast sailing ship with many masts, popular in the 1800s.
n.a fast, multi-masted sailing vessel of the mid-19th century, designed for speed and long-distance trade.
Simple“The tea clipper raced across the ocean to deliver its cargo first.”
In context“The Cutty Sark remains one of the most famous examples of a nineteenth-century clipper, built for the competitive tea trade between China and London.”
Synonymssailing shipvessel - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a part of an electronic circuit that stops a signal from getting too high.
n.a circuit designed to prevent the amplitude of an electrical signal from exceeding a predetermined voltage level.
Simple“The engineer added a clipper to the circuit to protect the speakers.”
In context“In audio engineering, a diode clipper is frequently employed to truncate signal peaks and prevent digital distortion in the recording chain.”
Synonymslimiter - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to cut hair or fur using a clipper tool.
v.to trim or style hair, fur, or wool using mechanical or electric clippers.
Simple“He clippers his own hair at home to save money.”
In context“The farmer clippered the sheep's wool before the summer heat became too intense for the flock.”
From Middle English clipper, equivalent to clip (“cut, shorten”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). The type of sailing ship is probably also from clip, in the sense of “move or run rapidly”. Perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch klepper (“swift horse”), from kleppen (“to clap”), which is onomatopoeic.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.