Definition of "nip"

May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress.

1859, Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King, Merlin and Vivien

The small shoots ... must be nipt off.

1716, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry‎

And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.

1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.

1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton‎, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129

The twelfth is a beau-trap, if a cull he does meet, / He nips all his cole, and turns him into the street.

1712, J. Shirley, “The Black Procession”, in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris‎, verse 4, published 1896, page 38

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. …"

1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, XII

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.

1915, W.S. Maugham, Of Human Bondage, chapter 118

A novice nip, newly arrived in London, went one afternoon to the Red Bull in Bishopsgate, an inn converted to a playhouse.

1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 27

I find bras totally uncomfortable, hot and itchy, for both work and leisure. But looking around, I seem to be in the minority. What are the rules for going braless? Is it OK to show my nips, or is it rude?

2023 August 28, Vanessa Friedman, quoting Eddye, Madison, Wis., “Are There Any Rules About Going Braless?”, in The New York Times‎

My trip ends at Wrexham General. While the '150' trundles the final half-mile down the single line to Wrexham Central, I nip over the footbridge to explore the main part of the station.

2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 58