blip

Etymology

It is imitative, echoing a short, sharp sound.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} The Shorter Oxford compares bleep,^[6] and Dictionary.com explains it as sound symbolism, the final consonant standing for the brevity and abrupt end of the impulse, and the opening perhaps taken from blink.^[8] Barnhart calls both noun and verb of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sudden brisk blow or twitch, or a quick popping sound: 1894, in Mark Twain, in the magazine St Nicholas.^[2][3][9]

Semantic evolution

The modern senses come from radar: in 1945 a blip was the small mark of an object on a radar screen,^[2][3][5][9] a use that Green's Dictionary of Slang links to the bleeping noise of radar.^[10] Figurative uses followed: from 1965 something that hardly attracts attention, especially in a blip on the radar.^[2] From 1967, first among statisticians, it has meant a brief, unimportant departure from a steady trend, especially a temporary downturn.^[2] The Oxford Dictionary of English dates the sense "unexpected deviation" to the 1970s.^[7] The verb, "to strike with a brisk tap", is recorded in A. A. Milne's When We Were Very Young (1924);^[2][9] in pilots' slang from 1925 it meant to switch an aeroplane engine on and off, and later to open and close a throttle or rev an engine.^[2] In American Black slang a blip was also a cent or nickel (1935, in L. Hughes).^[10]

Timeline

• 1894 – a sudden brisk blow or twitch; a quick popping sound.^[2][3][9]
• 1924 – verb, to strike with a brisk rap or tap.^[2][9] Merriam-Webster dates this sense 1906.^[5]
• 1925 – verb, in slang, to switch an aeroplane engine on and off; later, to rev an engine.^[2]
• 1945 – a small mark on a radar screen.^[2][3][5][9]
• 1946 – verb, to make a quick popping sound.^[2]
• 1965 – something insignificant, especially in the phrase a blip on the radar.^[2]
• 1967 – a temporary, unimportant fluctuation in a trend, especially a downturn.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short, crisp sound, often repeated, as from an electronic device: the blip of the heart monitor.^[5][11]
2. A spot of light or trace on a radar or other display screen, showing the position of an object.^[5][11][2]
3. A temporary irregularity or fluctuation in a trend, especially a small, short-lived downturn: The drop in sales was just a blip.^[11][2][6]
4. Something insignificant or barely noticed: a blip on the radar.^[2][5]

Verb

1. To strike or slap lightly.^[5][2]
2. To make a blip or a short popping sound.^[5][11][2]
3. To cut out recorded sound so that there is a gap in the playback; to bleep.^[5]
4. To open and close the throttle of an engine quickly; to rev.^[2]

Related words

• bleep

Usage notes

In American Black slang of the 1940s, blip also meant something excellent, and as an adjective fine or good.^[10] Green's Dictionary of Slang calls its origin unknown.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins