fillip

Meaning

Noun

1. (archaic) The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a snap; a flick.
2. A sharp strike or tap made using this action, or (by extension) by other means.
3. (broadly) Something unimportant, a trifle; also, the brief time it takes to flick one's finger (see noun sense 1); a jiffy.
4. (broadly) Something that excites or stimulates.

Verb

1. (transitive) To strike, project, or propel with a fillip (that is, a finger released quickly after being pressed against the thumb); to flick.
2. (broadly, transitive) To project quickly; to snap.
3. (broadly, transitive) To strike or tap smartly.
4. (figuratively, transitive) To drive as if by a fillip (noun sense 1); to excite, stimulate, whet.
5. (ambitransitive) To make a fillip (noun sense 1) (with the fingers).

Synonyms

flick

incentive

spur

stimulus

stimulator

motive

bonus

click

tap

flip

remind

reminder

shoot

suppress

bomb

💣

stroke

buffet

con

goad

leaven

leavening

oppress

Philip

prompt

rebound

Translations

pichenette

chiquenaude

knip

peteleco

estímulo

incentivo

vingerknip

Anregung

schioccàr di dita

Nasenstüber

coup de pouce

encouragement

stimulant

papirote

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfɪlɪp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: filippen

In summary

From Middle English filippen, philippe (“to flick or snap a finger from against the thumb”); further origin uncertain, but probably imitative. See flip. It is not clear whether the verb is derived from the noun, or vice versa.