pip

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pip1

▶noun a small, hard seed in a fruit.

– derivatives
pipless adjective.

– origin C18: abbrev. of pippin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pip2

▶noun (the pips) Brit. a series of short high-pitched sounds, used as a signal on the radio or within the telephone system.

– origin 1920s: imitative.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pip3

▶noun

• 1 Brit. a star (1–3 according to rank) on the shoulder of an army officer's uniform.

• 2 any of the spots on a playing card, dice, or domino.

• 3 an image of an object on a radar screen.

– origin C16 (orig. peep, in the sense ‘spot’): of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pip4

▶noun a disease of poultry or other birds causing thick mucus in the throat and white scale on the tongue.

– phrases
give someone the pip informal, dated make someone angry or depressed.

– origin ME: from MDu. pippe, prob. from an alt. of L. pituita ‘slime’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pip5

▶verb (pips, pipping, pipped) Brit. informal

• 1 defeat by a small margin or at the last moment.

• 2 dated hit or wound with a gun.

– phrases
pip someone at (or to) the post defeat someone at the last moment.

– origin C19: from pip1 or pip3.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pip6

▶verb (pips, pipping, pipped) (of a young bird) crack (the shell of the egg) when hatching.

– origin C19: perh. of imitative origin.