clippers

IPA/ˈklɪp.əz/
KK[klˈɪpɚz]IPA/ˈklɪp.ɚz/

clippers — noun

1. A tool, usually with two cutting parts, used to trim nails, cut hair, shape bush

1.nounB1
Definition

A tool, usually with two cutting parts, used to trim nails, cut hair, shape bushes, or do similar small cutting jobs.

Example

Aylin packed the nail clippers before the hiking trip.

nail clippers — common subtype for trimming nails

The barber brushed hair from the clippers between two customers.

barber's clippers — common use for cutting hair

Common collocations
  • nail clippers
  • hair clippers
  • hedge clippers
  • garden clippers
  • a pair of clippers
Synonyms
  • trimmers

    broader word, often for powered tools that shape hair or plants neatly

  • shears

    larger and stronger cutting tools, especially for plants or thick material

  • scissors

    more general hand-cutting tool, especially for paper or cloth

Grammar Patterns

a pair of clippers + singular verb

clippers + plural verb

clippers for + noun

Usage Note

Usually plural in everyday English. For one tool, many speakers say 'a pair of clippers'; without that phrase, use a plural verb, as in 'The clippers are on the sink.'

Common Mistakes

I need a clippers for my nails.
I need clippers for my nails.
The noun is usually plural when you mean the tool in general.
This clippers is too dull.
These clippers are too dull.
Without 'a pair of,' the noun takes a plural verb.

2. Sailing ships from the past that were built to travel very quickly.

2.nounC2
Definition

Sailing ships from the past that were built to travel very quickly.

Example

By 1850, tea clippers carried fresh leaves from China to London.

tea clippers — historical trade use

Old clippers could cross the ocean faster than many larger ships.

historical plural noun with plural verb

Common collocations
  • tea clippers
  • famous clippers
  • old clippers
  • clippers carrying wool
Synonyms
  • clipper ships

    full form used when the shorter plural might be unclear

  • sailing ships

    broader term for ships that move by sail rather than engine

Grammar Patterns

clippers + plural verb

clippers carrying + goods

clippers from + place

Usage Note

Mostly found in history books and museum writing. When you mean one ship, the usual form is 'a clipper'; 'clippers' is used for several ships or for the class as a group.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Clippers, scissors, shears, and trimmers all refer to cutting tools, but they are used in different situations. Clippers usually means a tool for short, controlled cuts, especially on nails, hair, fur, or small plants. Scissors is the broad everyday word for a two-bladed hand tool used on paper, cloth, and many light materials. Shears suggests a larger, stronger tool for thick plants, heavy cloth, or wool. Trimmers is broader and often names powered tools for shaping hair, grass, or hedges neatly rather than simply cutting something off. If you cut wrapping paper, you probably want scissors. If you shorten a dog's fur or your nails, clippers is the better word. For thick bushes, shears sounds more natural.

trimmers ↗shearsscissors ↗

Etymology

Old NorseEnglish

The word comes from the English verb 'clip', which has long meant 'cut' and also 'move quickly'. With the ending '-per' or '-er', it first named a thing that clips. That gave English the cutting-tool sense. In the nineteenth century, the related noun 'clipper' was also used for a very fast sailing ship, as if it clipped along over the water. 'Clippers' is the plural form used both for cutting tools and for groups of those ships.

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1