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# nippy

«nippy» in Mova's school dictionary: **cold, especially with a sharp, biting chill: a nippy morning** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (nippy, nippier, nippiest)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, UK and Australia) Nippy means cold, especially with a sharp, biting chill: a nippy morning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#m1)

2) (informal) Nippy means quick and lively, able to move fast: a nippy little car. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#m2)

3) (rare) Nippy describes a dog likely to nip or bite. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday British and Australian talk «It's a bit nippy out» means it is cold, so take a coat. In sport a nippy winger is fast and hard to catch. Phrases: «a bit nippy», «nippy little car», «nippy winger».

### examples

- Wrap up warm, it's a bit nippy this morning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#x1)
- The wind was nippy on the beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#x2)
- Our new car is small and nippy in traffic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#x3)
- She's a nippy little player who dodges every tackle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#x4)
- That terrier can be nippy with strangers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#x5)
- It gets nippy at night in the desert. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#x6)
- “You’re so nippy at it,” John said, “couldn’t you do it very slowly once?” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/#x7)

### note

Informal, friendly word. Comparatives «nippier», «nippiest». From «nip» (a small bite, or a sharp chill). «Nippy» means fairly cold, not freezing.

### In the corpora

- [In Scots «pure sound» means really nice and a «nippy sweetie» is someone sharp-tongued.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/468-nice-alone-mean-in-a-group/17/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «nippy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/nippy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.