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Webster 1913 Edition

Imp

Imp

(ĭmp)
,
Noun.
[OE.
imp
a graft, AS.
impa
; akin to Dan.
ympe
, Sw.
ymp
, prob. fr. LL.
impotus
, Gr. [GREEK] engrafted, innate, fr. [GREEK] to implant; [GREEK] in + [GREEK] to produce; akin to E.
be
. See 1st
In-
,
Be
.]
1.
A shoot; a scion; a bud; a slip; a graft.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
An offspring; progeny; child; scion.
[Obs.]
The tender
imp
was weaned.
Fairfax.
3.
A young or inferior devil; a little, malignant spirit; a puny demon; a contemptible evil worker.
To mingle in the clamorous fray
Of squabbling
imps
.
Beattie.
4.
Something added to, or united with, another, to lengthen it out or repair it, – as, an addition to a beehive; a feather inserted in a broken wing of a bird; a length of twisted hair in a fishing line.
[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

Imp

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Imped
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Imping
.]
[AS.
impian
to imp, ingraft, plant; akin to Dan.
ympe
, Sw.
ympa
, OHG.
impfōn
,
impitōn
, G.
impfen
. See
Imp
,
Noun.
]
1.
To graft; to insert as a scion.
[Obs.]
Rom. of R.
2.
(Falconry)
To graft with new feathers, as a wing; to splice a broken feather.
Hence,
[Fig.]
:
To repair; to extend; to increase; to strengthen; to equip.
[Archaic]
Imp
out our drooping country’s broken wing.
Shakespeare
Who lazily
imp
their wings with other men's plumes.
Fuller.
Here no frail Muse shall
imp
her crippled wing.
Holmes.
Help, ye tart satirists, to
imp
my rage
With all the scorpions that should whip this age.
Cleveland.

Webster 1828 Edition

Imp

IMP

, n.
1.
A son; offspring; progeny.
The tender imp was weaned.
A lad of life, an imp of fame.
2.
A subaltern or puny devil.

IMP

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To graft.
2.
To lengthen; to extend or enlarge by something inserted or added; a term originally used by falconers, who repair a hawk's wing by adding feathers.
Imp out our drooping country's broken wings.
--The false north displays
Her broken league to imp her serpent wings.
This verb is, I believe, used only in poetry.

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