kipper
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kipper¹
- /ˈkɪpə(ɹ)/
Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Old English cypera (“male salmon”), perhaps related to Old English coper (“reddish-brown metal”) (see copper), on resemblance of color. Another theory connects it to kip (“sharp, hooked lower jaw of the male salmon in breeding season”), from Middle English kippen (“to seize, snatch”), but OED doubts this.
noun kippers
- A split, salted and smoked herring or salmon.
- A male salmon after spawning.
- A patrol to protect fishing boats in the Irish and North Seas against attack from the air. Kipper, I discovered, was airman's slang for a fishing boat. The chief function of this particular station was the escorting of convoys and fishing fleets, and the section which had the latter duty to perform was known as the ‘Kipper Patrol’.
- A torpedo. As she was only crawling along I aimed my first ‘kipper’ just a fraction ahead of her bows.
- An Englishman who has moved to Australia. 1 Kipper, Englishman
- A young Aboriginal man who has been initiated into to the rights of manhood. With these weapons the natives invest their young men at the age of from fourteen to sixteen years... These young men are then called kippers, and for the first time enjoy the privilege of taking an active part in the fight.
- An English person.
- A fool. Don't push so, 'Liza; you're a-knockin' my 'at off, yer silly kipper!'
- A child or young person. Half-a-dozen dreadfully common young bicyclists were commenting on her discomfiture with delighted exclamations of ‘Giddy old Kipper’, ‘Sweet Seventeen’, ‘Cheero, Maudie—you'll win!’
- The vagina.
verb kippers · kippering · kippered
- To prepare (a herring or similar fish) by splitting, salting, and smoking. There was kippered salmon, and Finnan haddocks, and a lamb's head, and a haggis[…]
- To damage or treat with smoke. "Your own fault. Did you imagine I was going to live on a gasring, because you wouldn't have your chimney repaired?" Then Diva got a tenant in spite of the kippered bathroom, and moved to a dilapidated hovel close beside the railway line, which she got for half the rent which she received for her ho
- To dry out with heat or harsh chemicals; to desiccate. She was the daintiest and most exquisite little figure imaginable, never did she stir out of doors without layers of veil to protect her from the kippering effects of sun and wind, and she preserved untouched by unguents or “mess” the complexion of a girl, smooth and soft and unwrinkled.
- To drink or give a drink of alcohol, especially to intoxication. No man should appear at his day's labors unless well kippered. May I kipper you, madam ”
- To punish by spanking or caning. Where of old, with awful mysteries and diabolic din, They “kippered” adolescents in the presence of their kin
- To lead astray or frame; to cause to get into trouble. As for Mr. Mowbray you must know that he is not only the chief plotter, inventor, and spreader abroad of all these base calumnies, but he did also, like a fool, vent before his going home, to one whom he though had not been my friend, that he had taken notes of all words spoken by me in Scotland, an
- To utterly defeat or humiliate. Were the missing crewmen kippered by a squid?
adjective more kipper · most kipper
- Out of season. These were kipper salmon, and an acquaintance of mine living at Burton Rowbottom who was trolling for pike at Yoxall, near to King's Bromley, got a run, five years ago, and caught a beautiful salmon weighting 25 lbs.
- Very wide, shaped like a kipper. Blades initiated a regeneration in modern British tailoring that from the mid-sixties began by flirting somewhat uneasily with the hippie style -- its most flamboyant exponent being Michael Fish, who opened premises in Piccadilly in 1966, introducing the kipper tie , Russian-style side-fastening tun
kipper²
- /ˈkɪpə(ɹ)/
Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Short form of UKIP + -er, influenced by kipper, the type of fish.
noun kippers
- A member or supporter of UKIP (UK Independence Party).
kipper³
- /ˈkɪpə(ɹ)/
Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Perhaps akin to Old Norse kjapt (“briskly; impetuously”), kippa ("to snatch; pull; jerk" > Middle English kippen (“to seize”)), kipra (“to wrinkle; draw tightly”), Norwegian kjapp (“fast; brisk”), Dutch kippen (“to seize; catch; grip”). More at kip.
adjective more kipper · most kipper
- lively; chipper; nimble. Thus he goes on, from morn till eve, from season to season, year in and year out, semingly impervious to the weather, being altogether too kipper and grievous to be taken with anything worse than a ' snivelly cold . '
kipper⁴
- /ˈkɪpə(ɹ)/
Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Short for "kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings".
noun kippers
- A young adult who lives with, and is funded by, his or her parents. Kippers (kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings) who will never leave the family home. Kippers have got it sussed. They will avoid taking on a mortgage, getting a proper job or even renting a house, […]
Kipper⁵
proper noun Kippers
- A surname.
noun Kippers
- A type of fortune-telling cards.
- A supporter or member of UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party).
Translations
Every language
noun salted and smoked herring or salmon
| Deutsch | Bückling, Räuchergering |
|---|
noun a prepared herring
| 中文 | 醃魚 /腌鱼 yānyú, 醃鱼 yānyú, 鹹魚 /咸鱼 xiányú |
|---|---|
| Русский | копчёная селёдка kopčónaja seljódka |
Talk about this word "kipper." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/kipper. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. kipper. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/kipper "kipper." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/kipper.Cite this
@misc{kipper_2026,
title = {kipper},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kipper},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
