English

Noun

nipper ‎(plural nippers)

1. One who, or that which, nips.
2. (usually in the plural) Any of various devices (as pincers) for nipping.
3. (slang) A child.
   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, p. 193. ISBN 0-451-51218-9

     Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh?

4. (Australia) A child aged from 5 to 13 in the Australian surf life-saving clubs.

   • Of our movement’s 153,000 members, over 58,500 are nippers (5-13 years). This equates to nearly 40% of our total membership and shows just how significant the junior movement is within surf lifesaving.

   • The Nippers program, for children aged five to thirteen, promotes water safety skills and confidence in a safe beach environment.
   • 2003 Some Like It Hot: The Beach As a Cultural Dimension

     SLSA has become a multi-million dollar enterprise comprising 262 clubs located around the Australian coastline, with 100000 members, which included thousands of juniors or 'nippers', as they were more commonly known.

   • 2008 Understanding Sports Coaching: The Social, Cultural and Pedagogical Foundations of Coaching Practice. Tania Cassidy, Robyn L. Jones, Paul Potrac -

     It is the first day of training for a group of ten 'little nippers' (novice surf life- savers). An assortment of children expectantly hover in the clubhouse.

   • 2009 Didgeridoos and Didgeridon'ts: A Brit 's Guide to Moving Your Life Down Under

     "Every club around Australia offers a Nippers programme. Nippers is open to children from the age of 5 through to 13 years old and not only is it a fun way for your child to .."

5. (Canada, slang, Newfoundland) A mosquito.
6. One of four foreteeth in a horse.
7. (obsolete) A satirist.
   • Roger Ascham

     […] ready backbiters, sore nippers, and spiteful reporters privily of good men.

8. (obsolete, slang) A pickpocket; a young or petty thief.
9. A fish, the cunner.
10. A European crab (Polybius henslowii).
11. The claws of a crab or lobster.

Synonyms

• (pickpocket): see Wikisaurus:pickpocket

Translations