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kipper

noun
kip·​per | \ ˈki-pər How to pronounce kipper (audio) \

Definition of kipper

 (Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a male salmon or sea trout during or after the spawning season
2 : a kippered herring or salmon

kipper

verb
kippered; kippering\ ˈki-​p(ə-​)riŋ How to pronounce kippering (audio) \

Definition of kipper (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to cure (split dressed fish) by salting and smoking
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Other Words from kipper

Verb

kipperer \ ˈki-​pər-​ər How to pronounce kipperer (audio) \ noun

Did You Know?

Noun

Did you know? An American visiting Scotland once reported to The New York Times that "a kipper is prepared by taking a herring fresh (no more than 24 hours out of the water), plump, oily (15 percent or more fat content is best), soaking it in a saltwater brine and smoking it slowly over a fire composed of oak chips." This process of creating a kipper (called kippering) goes back to at least the 18th century, but the word kipper dates all the way back to before the 12th century, when it was spelled cypera and was used specifically to mean "a spawning salmon." Cypera is related to the Old English word for copper (coper) and may have been suggested by the salmon's color.

Examples of kipper in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

 The fact that the rules governing kipper shipments are in fact set by the U.K., not the E.U., was also characteristic of the man now headed to 10 Downing Street, who has a long history of putting compelling narratives ahead of facts. — Billy Perrigo, Time, "Boris Johnson Led the Charge for Brexit. Now, as Prime Minister, He Must Deliver It," 24 July 2019

First Known Use of kipper

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1773, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for kipper

Noun

Middle English kypre, from Old English cypera; akin to Old English coper copper

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More Definitions for kipper

kipper

noun
How to pronounce kipper (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of kipper

chiefly British : a herring that has been preserved with salt and then smoked

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