CLIP, verb transitive

1. To cut off with shears or scissors; to separate by a sudden stroke; especially to cut off the ends or sides of a thing, to make it shorter or narrower, in distinction from shaving and paring, which are performed by rubbing the instrument close to the thing shaved; as, to clip the hair; to clip wings.

But love had clipped his wings and cut him short.

2. To diminish coin by paring the edge.

3. To curtail; to cut short.

4. To confine, limit, restrain, or hold; to hug.

To clip it, is a vulgar phrase in New England for to run with speed. So cut issued; cut on, run fast. This seems to be the meaning in Dryden.

Some falcon stoops at what her eye designed,

And with her eagerness the quarry missed,

Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind.

This sense would seem to be allied to that of leap.

CLIP, noun

1. A blow or stroke with the hand; as, he hit him a clip

2. An embrace; that is, a throwing the arms round.