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Meaning of blip in English:

blip

Pronunciation /blɪp/

See synonyms for blip

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noun

1An unexpected, minor, and typically temporary deviation from a general trend.
‘the Chancellor dismissed rising inflation as a blip’
- ‘The drop last year is likely to be a small blip in a general upward trend.’
- ‘They're just a minor blip in the general scheme of things.’
- ‘You are looking for general, overall upward trends, not short-term blips.’
- ‘It looks like the situation in London is little more than a temporary blip, as property prices continue to rise across the UK.’
- ‘It's easy to dismiss the jump in inflation as a temporary blip.’
- ‘Time will tell if this is just a statistical anomaly or a blip in a downward trend.’
- ‘Should there be a correction, though, it most likely will only be a minor blip on the downward plunging trend lines.’
- ‘Consumer credit may introduce temporary blips in the economy, but it is not a secure building block.’
- ‘It puts in perspective some of the temporary blips in that relationship.’
- ‘It has been there for hundreds of years, and a temporary blip in the finances is no excuse for throwing it all away.’
- ‘He won't be very pleased about being marked down but someone as talented as him will treat it as a minor blip.’
- ‘Is it a permanent rebound or just a temporary blip?’
- ‘But road statistics are volatile, and experts say the 16 per cent drop in deaths last year could prove to be a blip rather than a trend.’
- ‘Another explanation, and this one is more reassuring, is that people aren't responding to the temporary inflation blip caused by higher petrol prices.’
- ‘Let's hope it's just a temporary blip in a smooth operation.’
- ‘Universities across the country are expecting a dip in the number of applicants next year, although this is expected to be a temporary blip.’
- ‘I am very happy, the temporary blip of sadness I felt the other day has long passed…’
- ‘The combination was lethal, but I just dismissed it as a temporary blip at the time.’
- ‘Yet they are but minor blips in an otherwise beautiful musical landscape which really ought to be discovered.’
- ‘But I hope this is just a blip, a temporary moment of blurred decision, out-weighed by my usual clarity.’
2A very short high-pitched sound made by an electronic device.
‘computer games can drive you crazy with their blips and bleeps’
- ‘He's got the groove going and he paces his compilations like an expert DJ, but his blips and bleeps sound awfully derivative.’
- ‘Previous emphasis on speed is now being replaced by ambience laced with moments of electronic blips and beeps, free jazz, noise, no wave and tinges of psychedelia.’
- ‘Beeps, blips and pings are the everyday sounds that we live with, thanks to our push-button gizmos and fast-paced lifestyle.’
- ‘It was a high-pitched blip that, once again, she never knew the devices were capable of.’
- ‘Is the future to be filled with soft glitchy vocals over clicks, blips and bleeps?’
- ‘All their core sounds are here - wispy synthesizer melodies and bleeps and blips.’
- ‘A blip sounded off signaling the entry of an intruder.’
- ‘Then a small blip of sound came from the screen and Lucas pulled back.’
- ‘To see him pull off all the blips, bleeps, loops, and hisses using only his vocal cords is definitely something special.’
- ‘Vocals are tucked in the back, submerged in reverb as blips and bleeps and chiming guitars send the whole thing home.’
- ‘If you're into funky, minimal blips and bleeps, check these guys out, they are the bomb!’
- ‘In the earliest games, we made do with blips and bleeps; now, we have MP3 soundtracks to rival DVDs, and incidental sounds recorded from real life.’
- ‘It lives up to the hype, delivering blips, bleeps and beats.’
- ‘Videogames began as a few blips and bleeps racing across a screen.’
- ‘Further, the circuitry behind that speaker was equally lacking, as, in most cases, the system could not produce anything beyond the extent of beeps and blips.’
- ‘No excess noise was audible, and sound flowed continuously, free of blips or other interruptions.’
- ‘A blip of noise signals contact, then a low, droning hiss fills the speakers before the music begins.’
- ‘Or they could take their chances in the street with the taxis, zooming madly, beeping their horns in staccato blips as warnings.’
- ‘Warp speed, back to the sounds of 80's pop and those jittery keyboard blips!’
- ‘Eventually, the song peaks at a crescendo and dies away into atmospheric buzzes and computer blips.’
1. 2.1A small flashing point of light on a radar screen representing an object.
  ‘air traffic controllers watching the blips on their radars’
  ‘A bunch of ‘wacky’ characters watch blips on a radar screen.’
  ‘In the darkened operations room below decks, grey overalled officers and sailors watched an approaching blip on their radar screens.’
  ‘They watch the blips on the screen representing the planes break into two and fly off.’
  ‘He failed to see the whole, seeing only the details, which he spotted like blips on a radar screen.’
  ‘It's like hearing reports from Alaska radar stations of peculiar blips on the screen.’
  ‘While we were on the plane with them, they saw two blips on their radar screen.’
  ‘The radio wave reflections are essentially no different than airplane blips on a radar screen.’
  ‘The three blips on the radar screen were moving closer and closer to the ambush.’
  ‘Learning to identify what the blips on the screen represent can take some time.’
  ‘‘Told you everything would work perfectly,’ Eldon replied as they watched the radar blips disappear.’
  ‘The radar operator watched carefully as the blip on his monitor representing the Renegade crawled into the system.’
  ‘Imagine looking at the blips on the monitor of an air traffic controller in Las Angeles, multiplying those radar blips by 100-then zooming in on the flight path of a single aircraft.’

verbblips, blipping, blipped

1no object (of an electronic device) make a very short high-pitched sound or succession of sounds.
‘big boxes of esoteric electronics hummed and blipped’
- ‘At the touch of a button one of the blank monitors blipped to life, displaying a scene that was being picked up by a hidden remote camera.’
- ‘Fade up to a hospital room, greying white walls, a single bed with a little table beside it and a large TV set in the corner, a cardiac monitor blipping away quietly.’
- ‘Entering her apartment, Kayleigh saw the answering machine light blipping.’
- ‘I swear his brainwave monitor only blipped twice the whole time I was there.’
- ‘As I was working on today's entry our electricity began to blip on and off.’
- ‘The only reason it blips on my radar at all is the fact that you did it in the context of a western.’
- ‘But it's like saying even with the sound and screen on my television blipping on and off that I can enjoy a show.’
- ‘Moments later, the two legendary white paddles appeared onscreen, blipping and blooping the single pixel ball between them.’
- ‘He snickered amusedly and was about to speak up when suddenly, an alert window blipped onto his screen.’
- ‘Just as the much-anticipated commencement of our recovery was to begin, contacts of interest suddenly blipped onto the radar screen, and we were delayed momentarily.’
- ‘The lights were dimmed, and there was the cautious, subtle blipping of medical monitoring devices.’
- ‘A second later, another blipping sound greeted her.’
- ‘The card is also irritatingly noisy when connected to the GPRS network, making those buzzing and blipping noises your mobile emits when it interferes with another phone.’
- ‘The blipping laptop beat, layered and echoed phase-guitar strums, ringing vibraphone and wheezing organ that open the song mark this is as mood music, like a soundtrack for a film.’
- ‘With all the blipping and beeping machines hooked into him, he looked smaller, paler, and frailer than I'd ever seen him before.’
- ‘The blipping of her radio collar says she's staying close.’
- ‘While she worked, she kept looking at her wrist and staring at the blipping screen.’
2with object Open (the throttle of a motor vehicle) momentarily.
‘he straddled the bike and blipped the throttle’
- ‘You can't even stall it, as the car can cruise round town in sixth gear from just 500 revs and will blip the throttle for you.’
- ‘But the Aston version is not only quick and jerk free on up-changes; it beautifully blips the throttle on down shifts too.’
- ‘Clipping the throttle at idle often produced a gap in response before the motor picked up.’
- ‘Start it up and the engine quickly settles into a menacing mid-range growl, while blipping the throttle makes the exhaust bark.’
- ‘‘Often I've seen engineers jump in the vehicle, turn the engine on, blip the throttle, then drive off,’ he says.’
- ‘Twist the key and blip the throttle and the beautiful looking 4.2 V8 roars like a true racer.’
- ‘Happy didn't have to think once about the hours of rubbing down and lacquering, he blipped the throttle.’