Meaning of Fillip | Babel Free

Definitions

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

Equivalents

Examples

“And let⟳ him ſuppoſe, that if a Man in the beginning of the World, or four or five hundred Years ago, had laid a little round Marble upon a Table, and to put⟳ the ſame in Motion, had given it a Fillip with his Finger; the ſaid Marble, according to the abovemention'd Law of Nature, would (if no other Force⟳ had oppos'd its Motion) have⟳ moved to this very Minute with the ſame Velocity in a Right-Line, and without ceaſing, would have⟳ continued to run⟳ in the ſame Line ſuch a Length, as no Man could determine⟳ the end⟳ of.”

“The blasphemy done to a mortal man is punished with the sword, and shall the blasphemy done to God escape⟳ think⟳ you with a fillip in the forehead, or with the knock⟳ of a little wooden betel, as it is begun to be punished in certain men's houses now of late? Nay, verily. It is no fillip matter⟳ except we will admit⟳ such a fillip as shall fillip them down into the bottom of hell-fire. God is no puppet, nor a babe. It is not a fillip that can wipe away the blasphemy of his most blessed name⟳, before his high throne and glorious majesty.”

“Arch[ers]. In default of six pistoles, / Choose⟳ then without ado / To receive⟳ thirty fillips, / Or twelve blows with the stick⟳. / Punch. If it must be, and that I must pass⟳ through that, I choose⟳ the fillips.”

“Eat⟳, drink⟳ and love⟳; the rest's not worth a fillip.”

“Now among the treasures in the palace of the Dragon King of the World Under the Sea were two jewels having wondrous power over the tides. [...] Whoever owned them had the power to make⟳ the tides instantly rise⟳ or fall⟳ at his word, to make⟳ the dry land⟳ appear⟳, or the sea overwhelm it, in the fillip of a finger.”

“This measure⟳ gave a fillip to the housing market.”

“The athlete’s victory provided a much-needed fillip for national pride.”

“He sat at the head of the table with his hat on, and an eye beaming even more luminously than his nose. He had a quiz and a fillip for every one, and a good thing on every occasion.”

“Changes, however, such as we all require⟳, must by no means be confused with fillips—artificial stimulants, which are bad for everybody. These last⟳ may be easily recognised and known for what they are, by their suddenness and violence, as well as by the temporary character of their effects.”

“Some branches [of the Wolverhampton iron⟳ and steel trade⟳] are quiet, a few are slack, but generally they are, for the most part, well employed. The outlook cannot be so well gauged. It only requires a bit of a spurt to give⟳ a fillip to several branches, and these would stimulate the rest⟳.”

“The outline could apply⟳ to most of the self-effacing, increasingly inward-looking comedies written and directed by Hong Sang-soo, and it certainly describes "The Day He Arrives," an agreeably meandering exercise that brings some clever French New Wave⟳ fillips and structural repetitions to Hong's characteristically boozy party.”

“Labor has emerged victorious in critical byelection contests in Tasmania and Queensland in a significant fillip for the federal leader, Bill Shorten, boosting its primary vote⟳ in Longman and harvesting the lion’s share⟳ of preferences in Braddon.”

“In a fillip to the Labour government, the Washington-based organisation said it expected the UK economy to grow⟳ by 1.6% in 2025, up from an earlier forecast of 1.5%.”

CEFR level