Clipping

clipping
    n 1: an excerpt cut from a newspaper or magazine; "he searched
         through piles of letters and clippings" [syn: {clipping},
         {newspaper clipping}, {press clipping}, {cutting}, {press
         cutting}]
    2: cutting down to the desired size or shape [syn: {trim},
       {trimming}, {clipping}]
    3: the act of clipping or snipping [syn: {clip}, {clipping},
       {snip}]
    

Clip \Clip\ (kl[i^]p), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Clipped} (kl[i^]pt);
   p. pr. & vb. n. {Clipping}.] [OE. cluppen, clippen, to
   embrace, AS. clyran to embrace, clasp; cf. OHG. kluft tongs,
   shears, Icel, kl[=y]pa to pinch, squeeze, also OE. clippen to
   cut, shear, Dan. klippe to clip, cut, SW. & Icel. klippa.]
   1. To embrace, hence; to encompass.
      [1913 Webster]

            O . . . that Neptune's arms, who clippeth thee
            about,
            Would bear thee from the knowledge of thyself.
                                                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To cut off; as with shears or scissors; as, to clip the
      hair; to clip coin.
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            Sentenced to have his ears clipped.   --Macaulay.
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   3. To curtail; to cut short.
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            All my reports go with the modest truth;
            No more nor clipped, but so.          --Shak.
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            In London they clip their words after one manner
            about the court, another in the city, and a third in
            the suburbs.                          --Swift.
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Clipping \Clip"ping\, n.
   1. The act of embracing. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The act of cutting off, curtailing, or diminishing; the
      practice of clipping the edges of coins.

   Note: This practise was common when precious metals such as
         silver or gold were used in commonly circulated major
         coins, such as the dime, quarter, and higher
         denominations; scoundrels would remove small slivers of
         precious metal from the edges of many coins, eventually
         accumulating enough precious metal to be worth a
         significant sum, while passing on the clipped coins at
         their nominal values. After most governments
         discontinued coinage in silver and gold in the late
         1900's, the practice became obsolete. The serrations,
         or milling, at the edges of coins was introduced to
         defeat the practice by making the result of clipping
         evident. Many coins continued to be made with milled
         edges even after the practice of clipping was rendered
         pointless by use of non-precious metals in coinage.
         [1913 Webster +PJC]

               clipping by Englishmen is robbing the honest man
               who receives clipped money.        --Locke.
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   3. That which is clipped off or out of something; a piece
      separated by clipping; as, newspaper clippings.
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   4. (Football) The act of hitting a player from behind, for
      the purpose of blocking. It is illegal in football because
      it can lead to injury to the blocked player, who cannot
      anticipate the action. A penalty of 10 yards or more may
      be assessed against the team of the offending player.
      [PJC]
    

68 Moby Thesaurus words for "clipping":
      abbreviation, ana, analects, anthology, apocope, aposiopesis, bit,
      butt, chip, chunk, clip, clippings, collectanea, collection,
      collop, contraction, crasis, crumb, cut, cutting, cuttings, dollop,
      elision, ellipsis, end, excerpta, excerpts, extracts, florilegium,
      flowers, fragment, fragments, gleanings, gob, gobbet, hunk, lump,
      miscellanea, miscellany, modicum, moiety, morsel, paring, particle,
      piece, pruning, rasher, scoop, scrap, shard, shaving, shiver,
      shortening, shred, slice, sliver, smithereen, snack, snatch, snip,
      snippet, splinter, stitch, stump, syncope, syneresis, tatter,
      truncation