kipper

English

Wikipedia

Kippered "split" herring.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪpə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

Noun

kipper (plural kippers)

1. A split, salted and smoked herring.
2. A salmon after spawning.
3. (military) An RAF World War II code name for patrols to protect fishing boats in the Irish and North Seas against attack from the air.

Translations

a prepared herring

• Jèrriais: héthan feunmé m

• Russian: копчёная селёдка (ru) (kopčónaja seljódka) f

Derived terms

• kipper tie

Verb

kipper (third-person singular simple present kippers, present participle kippering, simple past and past participle kippered)

1. To prepare a herring or similar fish in that fashion.
   • Charles Dickens

     There was kippered salmon, and Finnan haddocks, and a lamb's head, and a haggis […]

Adjective

kipper (comparative more kipper, superlative most kipper)

1. (UK, dialect) amorous
2. (UK, dialect) lively; light-footed; nimble

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Etymology 2

From UKIP +‎ -er, presumably modelled on kipper (the fish).

Noun

kipper (plural kippers)

1. (UK, informal, pejorative) (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A supporter of the UK Independence Party.
   • 2013, "MM", Ukip MEP defects to Tories (on newsgroup uk.legal)

     Just goes to show how narrow-minded both the kippers and the conservatives are. Why the heck shouldn't she live wherever she likes? Many French workers commute to Britain.

   • 2013, "abelard", it seems to me the talking heads are missing the real story of eastleigh... (on newsgroup uk.politics.misc)

     in a real election no sane kipper will vote for anyone but a tory...

   • 2013, Andrew Rawnsley, David Cameron won't prosper by trying to outkip the Kippers (in The Observer, 4 May 2013) [1]

     As I've remarked before, you can't outkip the Kippers. If Mr Cameron succumbs to the internal pressure to move right, he risks further diminishing the appeal of the Tory party to the centrist voters without whom he cannot possibly hope to win a general election in 2015.