Clipping is cutting or trimming something shorter, like when you clip your fingernails or clip a hedge into neat shapes. A dog groomer clips a poodle's fur to keep it tidy. You might clip articles from a newspaper or magazine, cutting out stories you want to save.

The word can also mean fastening things together. Paper clips hold sheets together by clipping them. A carabiner clips to your backpack. When rock climbers clip in to a safety rope, they're connecting themselves securely.

In language, clipping refers to shortening words by cutting off parts. “Math” is a clipping of “mathematics.” “Lab” comes from “laboratory.” These shortened forms become so common that people forget they started as longer words. Some clippings eventually become more popular than the originals: many people say “gym” rather than “gymnasium.”

The word also describes when objects strike each other with a glancing blow. If a basketball clips the rim instead of going cleanly through the hoop, it touches the edge as it passes. A car might clip another vehicle's bumper in a parking lot.