clips

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of clip.

   He fastened the loose pages with a couple of metal clips.

   The documentary opened with grainy clips from old newsreels.

   Note

   Firearms vocabulary is where this plural needs care. Strictly, clips are frames holding rounds that are pressed into a gun's internal magazine for fast reloading. Calling a removable magazine a clip is colloquial, and careful writers on weapons keep the two apart. The same plural also covers ordinary fastening devices and the toe clips on a horseshoe, turned up to embrace the hoof.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of clip.

   The barber clips the boy's hair close around the ears.

   The conductor clips each ticket as passengers board the train.

   Note

   One spelling does two opposite jobs: it can mean fastens together or cuts away. A barber clips hair and an editor clips a speech short, while an office worker clips pages to a folder. The object, and any particle such as together, on, off or back, usually settles which is meant. The same form also carries an archaic meaning, to hug, and a slang one, to gather signatures with a clipboard.

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