clipper n
[. . .]
2 also clipper sled: A coasting sled with a low platform and solid wood runners, usu pointed in front and shod with steel. Note: The word clipper appears in the brand names of several sleds of of the “Flexible Flyer” type, esp the “Yankee Clipper” introduced in 1936, but there is no evidence that such sleds were ever referred to generically as “clippers.” [Clipper something that moves rapidly, as in the earlier applications to a fast horse (OED2 clipper n1 4.a 1836→) and a fast ship (Ibid 4.b 1824→)] obs
1857 Belvidere Std. (IL) 17 Mar [3]/7, [Advt:] A Good Assortment of . . Clothes baskets, Clothes Pins, Clipper Sleds, Buckets, Measures, Churns [etc]. 1867 Sun (Baltimore MD) 28 Dec [2]/2, [Advt:] Boys, Attention! Clipper Sleds Received To-Day. These Sleds will go ahead of others, made of the strongest wood, round iron spring runners. 1877 Scranton Weekly Republican (PA) 11 Apr [4]/4, I like “clippers” for sleds, and I guess pretty near all the boys like them, too. 1891 Eve. World (NY NY) 3 Jan 2/7, The most popular boys’ sleds for coasting are the clipper sleds. . . The price of a clipper ranges all the way from 50 cents to $4.50, according to size and finish. The best sleds of this class are made of solid oak, with steel shoes rounded in form. As shown in the cut they are quite low and have handles in the sides for convenience in coasting. 1903 Outing 41.461, The next advance in sled building gave us the “clipper” or “pointer,” a low sled with round “spring runnners,” which is practically the same to-day as it was forty years ago. 1935 Spokesman–Rev. (Spokane WA) 20 Dec 11/1, I’ll still bet that the old clipper sled I had could outrun any of the new-fangled ones. You old readers remember those sleds—built close to the ground, steered with the foot. And how you could travel! 1943 LANE Map 573–574 RI, cMA, A low sled with solid sides coming to a point in front, often home made . . clipper [reported by 5 infs]. 1945 Brattleboro Daily Reformer (VT) 9 Jan 4/4, The traverse was an integral part of the winter scene. Proud and breathless indeed was the young lad who was first permitted to take his place behind the driver on a 12-foot hickory plank suspended over a pair of “clipper” sleds.
3 also clipper bug, flying clipper: = hellgrammite n 1. [In reference to the creature’s prominent mandibles] chiefly ePA
[1876 Eve. Gaz. (Pt. Jervis NY) 20 June [2]/2, Pond Eddy and Vicinity. . . —The “Clippers” of Barryville met the “Hojacks” of this place here last Saturday for a match game of base-ball.] 1880 NY Times (NY) 10 June 2/4 nePA, These [=set-lines for eels in the Delaware R.] are baited . . with young lampreys and the “clipper” or “hojack,” as the hideous larva of the helgramite is called. 1880 Sun (NY NY) 4 Oct [3]/2 PA, They anchored their canoe in the Susquehanna, just above the Williamsport dam. The colonel baited his hook with clippers. 1882 Amer. Angler (Ed. Harris) 2.53, Corydalis cornutus, is his baptismal scientific name, but he is also called: . . Clipper [at] Honesdale, Pa., and Port Jervis, N. Y. . . Clipper Bug [at] Flat Rock Dam, Schuylkill River. Ibid 2.167, Flying Clipper [at] Lackawaxen, Pa. 1898 Sun (NY NY) 8 May sec 3 7/5 ePA (as of 1850s), More than fifty years ago, when the writer was a boy old enough to spear eels in the Delaware river and yet not old enough not to stand in terror of the long-horned, formidable-looking, broad-winged thing that flitted like a bat out of the darkness to inspect the blazing jack, Dave Ray . . assured him that the big fly was only a clipper with wings. 1927 Scranton Republican (PA) 9 Aug 20/5, [Advt:] Bait For Sale. Clippers, bass bugs, crabs and fish bait. 1941 Field & Stream Aug 55, I’ve got to turn over some rocks to see if I can find me a clipper or two. I’m out of bait. 1968 DARE (Qu. P6, . . Kinds of worms . . used for bait) Inf PA121, Clipper; (Qu. R4, A large winged insect that hatches in summer in great numbers around lakes or rivers, crowds around lights, lives only a day or so, and is good fish bait) Inf PA115, Flying clipper—when in larval stage they live under stones. 2013 in 2020 DARE File—Internet PA, Last year [my resolution] was to use many different baits or lures to catch active fish; shiners, leeches, tubes, and things I have not used in years[:] clippers, live crayfish and catfood for cats. . . Clipper is a local name for a hellgrammite that are native to the Susqu[e]hanna river. 2016 Ibid [Susquehanna River Fishing Forum] PA, Those Gulp clippers are phenomenal! . . . Just as good as the real thing. Any one that uses live clippers, got a give these a try.