Meanings
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1
noun
the small projecting part of a breast or mammary gland through which milk can pass
The nurse checked that the infant had latched onto the nipple correctly.
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2
noun
the flexible teat on a baby's feeding bottle; chiefly North American
She replaced the cracked nipple on the bottle.
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3
noun
a short piece of pipe, usually threaded at both ends, used to connect fittings; technical
The plumber joined the valves with a steel nipple.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From sixteenth-century nypell, an alteration of earlier neble, probably a diminutive of neb 'beak, nose, projecting tip.' The underlying image is therefore a small projection; later technical senses were named by resemblance.