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to pip

to pip

9.3
To make a small hole in an eggshell when a young bird begins to come out
  • verb
  • /pɪp/
translation icon : romper el cascarón
  • After several hours, the duckling finally managed to pip and take its first breath of air.

Examples

  • The tiny chick began to pip early in the morning, making a small hole in the shell.

  • Farmers watched as each egg started to pip one by one during the spring hatching season.

  • The chick pipped the egg this morning.

  • Did the bird pip yet?

  • The tiny chick began to pip early in the morning, making a small hole in the shell.

  • After several hours, the duckling finally managed to pip and take its first breath of air.

  • Farmers watched as each egg started to pip one by one during the spring hatching season.

Synonyms

hatch
vsto pip
199 1.9

The time when young animals come out of eggs

is the single act of breaking the eggshell at the start of emergence

Idioms

pip pip
  • Archaic
9.9

A friendly old-fashioned British way to say goodbye

toodle pip
  • Archaic
9.9

A cheerful informal way to say goodbye

Phrasal Verbs

Beat someone at the very last moment in a contest

Compounds

pip-squeak
  • Offensive
1 9.6

A small or young person who is not taken seriously

How Cracked

to emerge
249 3.5
to pip
9.3

Surface Forms

pip infinitive
pipped past
pipped past participle
pipping present participle
pips third person singular

Etymology

Pip The verb pip for a chick breaking its egg shell comes from the tiny hole or the little 'peep' sound a chick makes when it starts to get out, so to 'pip' is to make that first small opening in the shell.