# clipper

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #26,723

## Definitions
1. Anything or anyone that clips.
2. A tool used for clipping something, such as hair, coins, or fingernails.
3. Something that moves swiftly; especially:
4. Something that moves swiftly; especially:
5. An Asian butterfly of species Parthenos sylvia, family Nymphalidae.
6. A circuit which prevents the amplitude of a wave from exceeding a set value.
7. A person who mutilates coins by fraudulently paring the edges.
8. A confidence trickster; a conman.
9. Anything showy or first-rate.

## Etymology
From Middle English clipper, equivalent to clip (“cut, shorten”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). The type of sailing ship is probably also from clip, in the sense of “move or run rapidly”. Perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch klepper (“swift horse”), from kleppen (“to clap”), which is onomatopoeic.

## Easily confused with
- **copper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clipper-vs-copper)
- **clippers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clipper-vs-clippers)
- **cipher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cipher-vs-clipper)
- **chopper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chopper-vs-clipper)
- **clipped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clipped-vs-clipper)
- **chipped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chipped-vs-clipper)
- **climber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/climber-vs-clipper)
- **clapped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clapped-vs-clipper)
- **clapper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clapper-vs-clipper)
- **chipper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chipper-vs-clipper)
- **caliper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caliper-vs-clipper)
- **clicker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clicker-vs-clipper)

## Common misspellings (9)
`cclipper`, `cilpper`, `clipepr`, `cliper`, `clipperr`, `clippre`, `cllipper`, `clpiper`, `lcipper`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/clipper