blip

UK: /ˈblɪp/ US: /blɪp/ ,(blip)

Inflections of 'blip' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

blips

v 3rd person singular

blipping

v pres p

blipped

v past

blipped

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

blip /blɪp/   n., v., blipped, blip•ping. 
n. [countable]

1. Electronics a spot of light on a display screen, esp. one on a radar screen indicating the position of an aircraft:
   The radar operators lost the blip they were tracking.
2. a brief interruption in a sound recording or video film:
   kept hearing little blips as our voices and pictures were distorted.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

blip  (blip), n., v., blipped, blip•ping. 
n. 

1. Electronics Also called pip. 
   • a spot of light on a radar screen indicating the position of a plane, submarine, or other object.
   • (loosely) any small spot of light on a display screen.
2. Business a brief upturn, as in revenue or income:
   The midwinter blip was no cause for optimism among store owners.
3. anything small, as in amount or number:
   a blip of light; Those opposed were merely a blip in the opinion polls.
4. bleep (def. 3).
5. Slang Terms a nickel;
   five cents.
6. Cinema, Show Business [Motion Pictures.] a mark of synchronization on a sound track.
7. a small or brief interruption, as in the continuity of a motion-picture film or the supply of light or electricity:
   There were blips in the TV film where the commercials had been edited out.

v.i. 

8. Informal Terms to move or proceed in short, irregular, jerking movements:
   The stock market has blipped one point higher this week.

v.t. 

9. Show Business bleep (def. 5).

• 1890–95, for an earlier sense; sound symbolism, with p for brevity and abrupt end of the impulse; bl- perh. from blink

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

blip / blɪp/ noun

1. a repetitive sound, such as that produced by an electronic device, by dripping water, etc
2. Also called: pip the spot of light or a sharply peaked pulse on a radar screen indicating the position of an object
3. a temporary irregularity recorded in performance of something

verb (blips, blipping, blipped)

1. (intransitive) to produce such a noise

Etymology: 20th Century: of imitative origin