The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Nip \Nip\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nipped, less properly Nipt;
   p. pr. & vb. n. Nipping.] [OE. nipen; cf. D. niipen to
   pinch, also knippen to nip, clip, pinch, snap, knijpen to
   pinch, LG. knipen, G. kneipen, kneifen, to pinch, cut off,
   nip, Lith. knebti.]
   1. To catch and inclose or compress tightly between two
      surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed;
      to pinch; to close in upon.
      [1913 Webster]

            May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell,
            Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat,
            If I be such a traitress.             --Tennyson.
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   2. To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting
      edges of anything; to clip.
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            The small shoots . . . must be nipped off.
                                                  --Mortimer.
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   3. Hence: To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor
      of; to destroy.
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   4. To vex or pain, as by nipping; hence, to taunt.
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            And sharp remorse his heart did prick and nip.
                                                  --Spenser.
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   To nip in the bud, to cut off at the very commencement of
      growth; to kill in the incipient stage.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Nipping \Nip"ping\, a.
   Biting; pinching; painful; destructive; as, a nipping frost;
   a nipping wind.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

nipping
    adj 1: capable of wounding; "a barbed compliment"; "a biting
           aphorism"; "pungent satire" [syn: barbed, biting,
           nipping, pungent, mordacious]
    2: pleasantly cold and invigorating; "crisp clear nights and
       frosty mornings"; "a nipping wind"; "a nippy fall day";
       "snappy weather" [syn: crisp, frosty, nipping, nippy,
       snappy]