as in shaving
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument
snipped the loose ends
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Recent Examples of snipping
Heckel crowed with delight as Strong tried paper, snipping her classmate’s fingers with scissors to complete the sweep.
—
Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2026
Cut individual stems as needed, snipping above a leaf node to encourage continued growth.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 18 Jan. 2026
Prune it by snipping off the dead stems in spring.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Dec. 2025
The nightingale tossed the worm in the air, snipping it in two with her beak and crushing its gummy, writhing halves against a flat rock.
—Hazlitt, 19 Nov. 2025
In the video, Sweeney goes from dirty blonde, with Oropeza methodically snipping the ends of her chin-length hair, to an icy, bright blonde.
—Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025
White House aides are snipping at Republican colleagues on the Hill that this is on them to sort out.
—Phil Elliott, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
An artist and aspiring beautician From the age of three, Traelynn was painting and snipping her own hair, sparking her love for cosmotology, her mother said.
—Kansas City Star, 14 Aug. 2025
Ruiz Avalos, 28, started snipping away but kept a close eye on her customer.
—Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 2 Aug. 2025
Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2026
Cut individual stems as needed, snipping above a leaf node to encourage continued growth.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 18 Jan. 2026
Prune it by snipping off the dead stems in spring.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Dec. 2025
The nightingale tossed the worm in the air, snipping it in two with her beak and crushing its gummy, writhing halves against a flat rock.
—Hazlitt, 19 Nov. 2025
In the video, Sweeney goes from dirty blonde, with Oropeza methodically snipping the ends of her chin-length hair, to an icy, bright blonde.
—Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025
White House aides are snipping at Republican colleagues on the Hill that this is on them to sort out.
—Phil Elliott, Time, 8 Oct. 2025
An artist and aspiring beautician From the age of three, Traelynn was painting and snipping her own hair, sparking her love for cosmotology, her mother said.
—Kansas City Star, 14 Aug. 2025
Ruiz Avalos, 28, started snipping away but kept a close eye on her customer.
—Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 2 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snipping
Verb
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For three men in three different places, shaving their heads did not erase years of anxiety but changed the narrative.—
Lily Hautau,
CNN Money,
30 Mar. 2026
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That's because these plug-in or balcony solar panels start shaving off part of a homeowner's or renter's utility bill right away.—
Jeff Brady,
NPR,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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That the Illini couldn’t complete their comeback attempt despite cutting it to four in the final minutes was dismaying.—
Colleen Kane,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
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There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony a couple of hours before the game, gigantic scissors slicing a pink ribbon.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Bangladesh has launched fresh measures to curb energy consumption, cutting office hours and trimming public spending as conflict in the Middle East disrupts global fuel markets and strains power supply in the South Asian nation.—
Max Burman,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
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After trimming the board’s budget for 2026, Meta plans to further reduce funding in 2027 and 2028, and potentially stop paying for it entirely after that, Platformer reports.—
Jon Martindale,
PC Magazine,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Woods, 50, had to climb out of the passenger's side door of his Land Rover in the wake of the March 27 crash on Jupiter Island, because the car had flipped onto its side after clipping the trailer attached to a pickup truck driving in front of him, according to the arrest report.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
3 Apr. 2026
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Smart mowing tactics can eliminate clipping litter, too.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Snipping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snipping. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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