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Shears vs Snip - What's the difference?

shears | snip |

As nouns the difference between shears and snip

is that shears is while snip is the act of snipping; cutting a small amount off of something.

As verbs the difference between shears and snip

is that shears is (shear) while snip is to cut with short sharp actions, as with scissors.

shears

English

Noun

(head)
  • (plurale tantum) A tool consisting of two blades with bevel edges, connected by a pivot, used for cutting cloth, or for removing the fleece from sheep etc
  • The bedpiece of a machine tool, upon which a table or slide rest is secured.
    • the shears of a lathe or planer
  • An apparatus for raising heavy weights, and especially for stepping and unstepping the lower masts of ships. It consists of two or more spars or pieces of timber, fastened together near the top, steadied by a guy or guys, and furnished with the necessary tackle. Also sheers.

    • Usage notes

    * The tool was once used in the singular.

    Verb

    (head)
  • (shear)

    • Anagrams

    *

    snip

    English

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To cut with short sharp actions, as with scissors.
    • I don't want you to take much hair off; just snip my mullet off.
  • To reduce the price of a product, to create a snip.
  • To break off; to snatch away.
  • * Daniel Defoe
    • The captain seldom ordered anything out of the ship's stores but I snipped some of it for my own share.
  • (informal) To circumcise.
  • * 2001 , David Cohen, The Father's Book: Being a Good Dad in the 21st Century , John WIley & Sons Ltd (2001), ISBN 0470841338, page 72:
    • Circumcised fathers face a special problem. Do you want your son's willy to be that radically different from your own? So, parents should perhaps not be put off. Be good to your son's future lovers and have him snipped .
  • * 2008 , Ilene Schneider, Talk Dirty Yiddish: Beyond Drek: The Curses, Slang, and Street Lingo You Need to Know When You Speak Yiddish , Adams Media (2008), ISBN 9781598698565, page 150:
    • His children, however, were not snipped , possibly because Princess Diana was opposed to the practice, which is out of fashion in England.
  • * 2012 , Tom Hickman, God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis , Square Peg (2012), ISBN 9780224095532, page 144:
    • By the outbreak of the First World War such claims had diminished and the medical profession touted circumcision as being 'hygienic' — fathers were not only encouraged to have their newborn sons snipped , but to belatedly enjoy the benefits themselves.
  • *

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of snipping; cutting a small amount off of something.
  • Something acquired for a low price; a bargain.
    • That wholesale lot on eBay was a snip at $10
  • A small amount of something; a pinch.
  • A vasectomy.
  • A small or weak person, especially a young one.
  • * 2010 — Ellen Renner, Castle of Shadows , Hachette UK, 2010 ISBN 1408313723.
    • 'Might as well come out now, you little snip, from wherever you be hiding!'
  • (obsolete) A share or portion; a snack.
    • (rfquotek, L'Estrange)
  • (obsolete, slang) A tailor.
    • (Nares)
    (Charles Kingsley)

    Derived terms

    * snipper * snippy

    Anagrams

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