kip

Etymology 1

1325–75, Middle English kipp, from Middle Dutch kip, from Middle Low German kip (“pack, bundle of hides”).

noun

1. The untanned hide of a young or small beast, such as a calf, lamb, or young goat.
2. A bundle or set of such hides.
3. (obsolete) A unit of count for skins, 30 for lamb and 50 for goat.
4. The leather made from such hide; kip leather.

Etymology 2

1760–70, probably related to Danish kippe (“dive, hovel, cheap inn”) and Middle Low German kiffe (“hovel”). From the same distant Germanic root as cove.

noun

1. (informal, chiefly UK) A place to sleep; a rooming house; a bed.
2. (informal, chiefly UK and Australia) Sleep, snooze, nap, forty winks, doze.
   I’m just going for my afternoon kip.
3. (informal, chiefly UK) A very untidy house or room.
4. (informal, chiefly UK, dated) A brothel.

verb

1. (informal, chiefly UK) To sleep; often with the connotation of a temporary or charitable situation, or one borne out of necessity.
   Don’t worry, I’ll kip on the sofabed.
   "Steady on, mate. How was I to know this was your gaff? I was lookin' for somewhere to kip." 1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 56
   He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry. "You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind it if wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets." 1997, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, published 1998, page 60

Etymology 3

From Middle English kippen, from Old Norse kippa (“to pull; snatch”) or Middle Dutch kippen (“to grasp, seize, catch”). Cognate with Norwegian kippe (“to snatch”), Swedish kippa (“to snatch; jerk”); Dutch kippen (“to seize; catch”). Perhaps conflated with some senses of Middle English kepen (“to keep, observe, guard, take possession of, snatch”) (see keep).

verb

1. (transitive, dialectal, Scotland, Northern England) To snatch; take up hastily; filch
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To hold or keep (together)
3. (intransitive, dialectal, Northern England) To conduct oneself; act

Etymology 4

1910–15, Americanism, abbreviated from kilo + pound.

noun

1. A unit of force equal to 1000 pounds-force (lbf) (4.44822 kilonewtons or 4448.22 newtons); occasionally called the kilopound.
2. A unit of weight, used, for example, to calculate shipping charges, equal to half a US ton, or 1000 pounds.
3. (rare, nonstandard) A unit of mass equal to 1000 avoirdupois pounds.

Etymology 5

1950–55, from Lao ກີບ (kīp).

noun

1. The unit of currency in Laos, divided into 100 att, symbol ₭, abbreviation LAK.

Etymology 6

Unknown. Perhaps related to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialect kep, to toss up into the air. Or else, perhaps related to German Kippe (“stub”).

noun

1. (Australia, games, two-up) A piece of flat wood used to throw the coins in a game of two-up.
   Again Turk placed the pennies on the kip. He took his time, deliberate over the small action, held the kip for a long breathless moment, then jerked his wrist and the pennies were in the air. 1951, Jon Cleary, The Sundowners, published 1952, page 208
   Money was laid on the floor for bets on the heads or tails finish of two pennies tossed high into the air from a small wooden kip. 2003, Gilbert Buchanan, Malco Polia - Traveller, Warrior, page 52
   Jack discarded a length of wood, two twists of wire, his two-up kip and a spanner. 2010, Colin McLaren, Sunflower: A Tale of Love, War and Intrigue, page 101

Etymology 7

Unknown.

noun

1. (gymnastics) A basic skill or maneuver in artistic gymnastics on the uneven bars, parallel bars, high bar and still rings used, for example, as a way of mounting the bar in a front support position, or achieving a handstand from a hanging position. In its basic form, the legs are swung forward and upward by bending the hips, then suddenly down again, which gives the upward impulse to the body.
2. (Scotland) A sharp-pointed hill; a projecting point, as on a hill.

verb

1. (gymnastics, intransitive) To perform the kip maneuver.