Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A mischievous child.
- n. A small demon.
- n. Obsolete A graft.
- v. To graft (new feathers) onto the wing of a trained falcon or hawk to repair damage or increase flying capacity.
- v. To furnish with wings.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A scion; shoot; graft; bud; slip.
- n. A son; offspring; progeny.
- n. A young or small devil.
- n. A mischievous or pert child.
- n. A spirit other than a devil.
- n. Something added or united to another thing to repair or lengthen it out; particularly, a feather inserted in a broken wing of a bird. See imp, v. t., 2. Synonyms Sprite, hobgoblin.
- To graft.
- To extend or enlarge by something inserted or added; extend or mend, as (in falconry) a broken or deficient wing by the insertion of a feather; qualify for flight or use; strengthen.
- To rob.
- n. The length of twisted hair in a fishing-line.
- n. An abbreviation of the Latin Imperator, emperor;
- n. of Imperatrix, empress.
- n. An abbreviation of imperative;
- n. of imperfect (tense);
- n. of imperial;
- n. of impersonal;
- n. of the Latin imprimatur, let it be printed.
Wiktionary
- v. obsolete To plant or engraft.
- v. falconry To engraft feathers into a bird's wing.
- v. To eke out, strengthen, enlarge.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. obsolete A shoot; a scion; a bud; a slip; a graft.
- n. obsolete An offspring; progeny; child; scion.
- n. A young or inferior devil; a little, malignant spirit; a puny demon; a contemptible evil worker.
- n. Obs. or Prov. Eng. Something added to, or united with, another, to lengthen it out or repair it, -- as, an addition to a beehive; a feather inserted in a broken wing of a bird; a length of twisted hair in a fishing line.
- v. obsolete To graft; to insert as a scion.
- v. (Falconry), figurative, Archaic, figurative, Archaic, Archaic To graft with new feathers, as a wing; to splice a broken feather. To repair; to extend; to increase; to strengthen; to equip.
WordNet 3.0
- n. one who is playfully mischievous
- n. (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous
Etymologies
- Old English impa ("graft"). Cognate with Danish ympe, German Impf, Swedish ymp. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English impe, scion, sprig, offspring, from Old English impa, young shoot, from impian, to graft, ultimately from Medieval Latin impotus, graft, from Greek emphutos, grafted, from emphuein, to implant : en-, in; see en-2 + phuein, to make grow; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Apparently, an "imp" is some form of measurement that can be counted in atoms; I'm surprised that there's enough room in these things to actually contain fluid.”
“Q: i wud like to know wht more features r going to b added up into Wave and mostly imp is when can it b made access to evryone - krishnat”
“If I remember right, Bat-Mite was an imp from the 5th Dimension (He sang along side Marilyn McCoo) just like Superman's Mr. Mxyzptlk (or however the hell you spell his name).”
Friday YouTube: Intro to 'The New Adventures of Batman' (1977)
“PLEASE NOTE: This bottle imp is being sold for entertainment purposes only.”
Fantastic Fiction at KGB » Blog Archive » Handmade Imp in a Bottle and Necklace from Kris Dikeman
“A swarm of little helpers pounced on Jeff, as well as the renegade imp from the ball return.”
“Ricky says: nawt only em ah he-win imp-aiwed, ah alsho fak peeks ahnd do Atim Schandler impwess-shuns!”
“Death cuts off a good man, as a choice imp is cut off to be grafted in a better stock; but it cuts off a wicked man, as a withered branch is cut off for the fire-cuts him off from this world, which he set his heart so much upon, and was, as it were, one with.”
“From HBO-land: Game of Thrones' "imp"-ish Peter Dinklage is an obvious choice, ditto Boardwalk's fiery Kelly Macdonald, but I'm surprised Michael Shannon, as Boardwalk's twisted Prohibition agent, wasn't recognized.”
“Quick glance at Frogface, with a scowl, like the imp was a traitor.”
“The imp is a slim and elegant creature, but oh, how small!”
The Life of the fly; with which are interspersed some chapters of autobiography
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘imp’.
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3-Letter Scrabble Words Which Do Not ...
A list of 3-letter words which cannot be formed by adding a letter to a 2-letter word (see Ken Clark's word lists found at http://www.seattlescrab...
fiz, fix, fir, fig, fie, fib, eve, eke, egg, eek, ecu, ebb and 225 more...
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MYTH - spooky creatures
takes the form of a, demon, teeth of iron, unicorn, forest spirit, magical eel, savage humanoid, one-horned animal, creature, headless humanoid, disease-bringing ..., rainbow-feathered... and 607 more...
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Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
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supernatural creatures according to M...
Turned this up on etymonline.com (link). It's amazing.
Hobbit (n.)
1937, coined in the fantasy tales of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973).
On a blank leaf I scrawled: 'In a hole...ghost, boggle, bloody-bones, spirit, demon, ignis fatuus, brownie, bugbear, black dog, specter, shellycoat, scarecrow and 186 more...
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3-letter Scrabble Words
aah, aal, aas, aba, abo, abs, aby, ace, act, add, ado, ads and 995 more...
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3 Letter Words
A list of English words that are three letters long.
ace, act, ade, ado, add, ads, age, ago, ail, air, aim, all and 397 more...
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-ishness
I omit words such as thief, cad, or prude if a phoneme change or the addition or subtraction of a letter is required when combining with -ishness.
boor, self, child, wonk, man, dolt, Jew, oaf, Kurd, faint, fool, unself and 20 more...
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Falconry
falconry, Falconry, falcon, austringer, bangle, bate, hood, tirret, bal-chatri trap, falconer, shikra trap, the falcon cannot... and 60 more...
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taniadee's list
sparkle, lipstick, sonata, onomatopoeia, imp, altruism, amble, innovate, kitsche, slapstick, embellish, dazzle and 4 more...
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Grafting, &c.
I'm specifically looking for terms from "old arboriculture," but it's an open list.
graft, grafting, arboriculture, scion, approaching, inarching, inarch, imp, shoot, adultery, arborist, ingraft and 52 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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The Devil and His Imps
Names of 'the Devil himself, the devils his "flaming ministers", household goblins, rural demons, bogles, sprites, and fairies of all kinds' mentioned in Charles P.G. Scott's 'The Devil and His Imp...
devil, devilet, deviling, dablet, black angel, black man, black bear, black bull, black dog, bogle, bogie, boggard and 128 more...
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3LW
3 letter words, not the girl band.
boggle and speed scrabble would not be half as fun without them.aah, boa, dot, fun, ick, log, oca, pyx, sos, was, aal, bob and 342 more...
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harry potter words
quidditch, apparate, disapparate, lumos, snitch, pensieve, dementor, azkaban, wingardium, leviosa, horcrux, bludger and 376 more...
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billfence's Words
quotidian, flux, sawbuck, horsefeathers, chalcedony, harp, no, fox, tennis, badminton, flue, charm and 186 more...
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whatever1013's Words
chocolate, sesquipedalophobia, discombobulated, callipygian, retronym, squirm, cobalt blue, plethora, onomatopoeia, blowhard, strumpet, shush and 173 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for imp.

hernesheir I'm off to imp my ride now. Feb 12, 2010
yarb Fascinating definition, hh! Feb 12, 2010
hernesheir In falconry, to graft new feathers onto the wing of a trained falcon or hawk to repair damage or to increase flying capacity.
To furnish with wings.
Feb 12, 2010
underling no mention of Poe's Imp of the Perverse?
"I have said thus much, that in some measure I may your question -- that I may explain to you why I am here -- that I may assign to you something that shall have at least the faint aspect of a cause for my wearing these fetters, and for my tenanting this cell of the condemned. Had I not been thus prolix, you might either have misunderstood me altogether, or, with the rabble, have fancied me mad. As it is, you will easily perceive that I am one of the many uncounted victims of the Imp of the Perverse." First published in the 1845 July issue of Graham's Lady's And Gentleman's Magazine, and republished, in slightly revised form, in various of Poe's other collections in later years. Nov 16, 2009
fbharjo in the sense of a graft Jan 27, 2007