Emily Dickinson Lexicon

NINE, a. [Goth. niun; G. ircun; Sw. ; Dan. ne; L. nonns; probably contracted, as the Saxon is nigan, and the Dutch nigen, Hindoo now, Burman no or nonaw.]

Denoting the number composed of eight und one; as, nine men; nine days.

NINE, n.

The number composed of eight and one; or the number less by a unit than ten; three times three.

NINE-FOLD, a.

Nine times repeated. Milton.

NINE-HOLES, n.

A game in which holes are made in the ground, into which a pellet is to be bowled. Drayton.

NINE-PENCE, n.

A silver coin of the value of nine pence.

NINE-PINS, n.

A play originally with nine pins or pieces of wood set on end, at which a bowl is rolled for throwing them down. We say, to play at nine-pins, or a game at nine-pins. In the United States, ten pins are sometimes used for this game.

NINE-SCORE, a.

Noting nine times twenty, or one hundred and eighty. [See Score.]

NINE-SCORE, n.

The number of nine times twenty.

NINE-TEEN, a. [Sax. nigantyne.]

Noting the number of nine and ten united; as, nineteen years.

NINE-TEENTH, a. [Sax. nigantothe.]

The ordinal of nineteen; designating nineteen.

NINE-TI-ETH, a.

The ordinal of ninety.

NINE-TY, a.

Nine times ten; as, ninety years.

NINNY, n. [Sp. nisio; L. nanus, a dwarf; Ar. {foreign}; nano, weak in mind.]

A fool; a simpleton. Swift.

NIN'NY-HAM-MER, n.

A simpleton. [Little used.] Arbuthnot.

NINTH, a. [Sax. nigetha, nigotha; but ninth in English, is formed directly from nine; Sw. nijnde.]

The ordinal of nine; designating the number nine, the next preceding ten; as, the ninth day or month.

NINTH, n.

In music, an interval containing an octave and a tone.

NIP, n.

1. A seizing.
2. A pinch with the nails or teeth. Aacham.
3. A small cut, or a cutting off the end.
4. A blast; a killing of the ends of plants; destruction by frost.
5. A biting sarcasm; a taunt. Stepney.
6. A sip or small draught; as, a nip of toddy. [G. rumen, Dan. ler, to sip.]

NIP, v.t. [D. knippen, to nip, to clip, to pinch; Sw. knipa; G. kneif, a knife, a nipping tool; kneifen, to nip to cut off, to pinch; kniff; a pinch, a nipping; knipp, a fillip, a snap; W. cneiviaw, to clip. These words coincide with knife, Sax. cnif, Fr. ganif or canif.]

1. To cut, bite, or pinch off the end or nib, or to pinch off with the ends of the fingers. The word is used in both senses; the former is probably the true sense. Hence,
2. To cutoff the end of any thing; to clip, as with a knife or scissors; as, to nip off a shoot or twig.
3. To blast; to kill or destroy the end of any thing; hence, to kill; as, the frost has tripped the corn; the leaves are . nipped; the plant was nipped in the bud. Hence, to nip in the bud, is to kill or destroy in infancy or youth, or in the first stage of growth.
4. To pinch, bite or affect the extremities of any thing; as, a nipping frost; hence, to pinch or bite in general; to check growth.
5. To check circulation. When blood is nipt. [Unusual.] Shak.
6. To bite; to vex. And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip. Spenser.
7. To satirize keenly; to taunt sarcastically. Hubberd.

NIPPED, or NIPT, pp.

Pinched; bit; cropped; blasted.

NIPPER, n.

1. A satirist. [Not used.] Ascham.
2. A fore tooth of a horse. The nippers are four.

NIPPER-KIN, n.

A small cup.

NIPPERS, n.

Small pinchers.

NIPPING, ppr.

Pinching; pinching off; biting off the end; cropping; clipping; blasting; killing.

NIPPING-LY, ads.

With bitter sarcasm. Johnson.

NIPPLE, n. [Sax. nypele; dim. of nal, neb.]

1. A teat; a dug; the spongy protuberance by which milk is drawn from the breasts of females. Ray. Encyc.
2. The orifice at which any animal liquor is separated. Derham.