Other forms: snipped; snipping; snips
To snip is to cut with short, quick strokes, the way you'd snip your bangs in the mirror, or snip off a loose thread hanging from your jacket.
A gardener snips dead blooms from a plant so new ones can grow, and a dog groomer carefully snips the hair covering your terrier's face so she can see where she's going. Snip is also a noun: "I saved a snip of the baby's hair to put in your scrapbook." The noun came first, initially meaning "a small piece of cut out cloth." In the 16th century, it was also a common nickname for a tailor.